Pan Simmered Whole Dried Cod With Tomatoes and Potatoes (Pesce Stocco or Stoccafisso)

pesce stocco prepared with green olives, wedges of potatoes, and cod

There are certain foods that stimulate the brain like a night in downtown Tokyo (with it’s neon glitter and masses of humanity).  For us, stockfish or pesce stocco, the native Calabrian dish (specifically from the region around Cittanova) triggers tremendoud food memories of my grandmother Rosa and her basement kitchen in New Jersey.

Pesce stocco, the dried not salted cod fish, is often confused with baccalà which is dried salted cod fish.  The Normans brought both variants of preserved cod fish to southern Italy by 1130 and they’ve remained popular food items to this day.

Cod is not native to the waters surrounding Italy and is often sourced via Scandinavia.   Dried and/or preserved cod has long been a staple in southern Italy cuisine.  In fact, for the Italians south of Rome or the mezzogiorno(i.e., Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Molise, Abruzzo, Sicilia, and Sardinia) cod is king.

Pesce stocco is a whole cod dried until extremely hard.  Reconstituting whole dried cod takes between 7-10 days with frequent transferring of fresh water. Our favorite way to prepare pesce stocco is with parsley, wedges of potato, and tomato passato.

The dish was once prepared in terracotta pots, where it simmered for 2-3 hours, but is now prepared on the stovetop in a metal pot or pan.

Pan Simmered Whole Dried Cod With Tomatoes and Potatoes (Pesce Stocco or Stoccafisso)

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 whole unsalted air dried cod fish (cut into 2.5-3.5 inch pieces)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2-3 pieces of celery
• 2-3 medium sized carrots
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 10-15 green olives
• 2-3 large potatoes (cut into 2 inch wedges)
• 1 jar of passato
• Extra virgin olive oil
• ½ large red onion (diced finely)
• Dried red chile pepper flake (optional)

Process

1. Wash the baccalà well under running water and leave to soak in plenty of cool water in a large container, changing the water morning and night (we often do this in a cool basement). The process takes between 8-10 total days depending on the size of cod. Note: the whole dried cod will contain bones and they will need to be removed (usually after the first day of soaking).
2. Dry the cod well with clean paper towels and set aside. In a large pan, add the diced onion, garlic, carrot, celery, olive oil and saute for 10-15 minutes. Add the passato and green olives and cook for 20 minutes (season well with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper). Add the pieces of fish, potato, and red pepper flakes and cook for 30-35 minutes or until the potatoes and fish are tender. Add chopped parsley during the last few minutes of the cooking process. If needed, add fresh extra virgin olive oil.

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close up of dried cod, potato wedges, tomatoes sauce, and green olives