A simple yet tasty blend of salt cod fish and mashed potato, salt cod balls (or salt cod fritters) are a classic New England dish worth rediscovering.
By Aimee Tucker|Jan 30 2019|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine Keenan
It’s time for a salt cod balls comeback. Read on to learn more about the history of salt cod in New England, and why this simple and frugal salt cod fritters dish is one worth revisiting.
Salted codfish balls served hot with tartar sauce. Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
As the name implies, salt cod is just Atlantic cod that has been salted and dried. It played an important part in New England’s culinary economy for many years, and is also a popular traditional ingredient in western and southern European countries like Portugal, Spain, and Italy. Cheap and long-lasting, salt cod could be re-hydrated months after drying, making it a critical source of protein in the days before refrigeration and freezing. In fact, it was so popular in Cape Cod it was sometimes referred to as “Cape Cod Turkey.”
Although not nearly as popular today (nor as cheap), salt cod is still readily available at most New England supermarkets. Most often, you’ll find smaller pieces for sale in wooden boxes near the deli or seafood counter, but if you can get your hands on a thicker slab, you’ll be rewarded with better texture and flavor.
To make salt cod balls, one of the most popular New England salt cod recipes, the fish is soaked for hours until it’s re-hydrated, then mixed with a little mashed potato and egg, shaped into balls (you can make salt cod fish cakes, if you like), and fried. Personally, I like mine with a little more flavor and crunch, so I add some fresh herbs, and breadcrumbs to the outside of the balls before frying.
Salt cod balls are also a popular staple in Portuguese cooking, where they’re known as “Pastéis de Bacalhau” or “Baccala.”
A box of salt cod is a familiar sight to many Yankees. Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
If you can’t get your hands on salt cod, or are pressed for time, you can substitute it with any firm, white fish instead. We won’t tell.
Recipes like this one for salt cod balls are also a great way to use up leftover fish of almost any kind.
Made with mashed potato and hydrated salt cod, salt cod balls are shaped and breaded before frying. Photo Credit : Aimee TuckerCareful frying, then draining on paper towels. Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
After frying, transfer the balls to a plate or cutting board lined with paper towels to absorb the excess grease. They look like perfect little fish and potato munchkin donuts, don’t they?
Arrange on paper towels to drain. Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
I decided to serve my salt cod balls appetizer-style, in a basket with tartar sauce, but a more traditional way to enjoy codfish balls or cakes was at breakfast, topped with a creamy butter-flour sauce.
We like serving our salt cod balls with tartar sauce. Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
With a thin, crisp exterior and soft, pillowy cod and potato interior, these salt codfish balls are salty, hot, and filling. A true New England classic.
Soft, pillowy potato and fish insides. Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
If you want more flavor (and you might — this recipe is very basic) feel free to add more herbs, chopped chives, minced onion, or even a pinch of dry mustard or cayenne to your salt cod balls. Once you’ve got the fish and the potato, the rest is up to you!
Are you a fan of salt cod balls?
This post was first published in 2015 and has been updated.
This is very similar to a tradicional Portuguese Recipe called “Bolinhos de bacalhau” or “pasteis de Bacalhau”, the dish is typical from the North of Portugal, although nowadays you can have it all over the country . Our cooking method is somehow different from yours, and we add Port wine and parsley as ingredients. Do you have a big Portuguese community over there?
Hi Teresa! Yes! Massachusetts actually has the largest Portuguese population in America (and neighboring Rhode Island is #3), so it’s no surprise we have an especially strong love for salt cod. The Port wine and parsley sound like great additions (our recipe here is very basic, and — for me — a little plain!). Thanks for commenting!
My grandmother originally from Nova Scotia taught us to make them. Ours are flattened more like cakes. Go perfectly with baked beans and freeze well. To say I love them is an understatement!
Our bolinhos de bacalhau recipe dates back to the year 1912 but originated also in northern, continental, Portugal. It includes finely chopped onion and fresh parsley but no wine. Growing up in Massachusetts I can recall a good friend whose family was Boston Brahmin standing in the kitchen happily awaiting my mother’s preparation of this delightful treat so he could carry some back home. His family ate “codfish cakes” for breakfast and were so grateful for the gift.
Wonderful bolos de bacalhau……I could not wait for my mother to make them as I grew up in R.I. What great memories I have of eating them at various occasions and holidays. When I moved west for a job I met a family from England and my wife and I made some for a party. They were very familiar with them but they had them at Christmas with a pouched egg on top of them. Try that it was very good. But I miss eating bacalhau every Friday as I did growing up.
My Mum would make her wonderful codfish cakes often, and especially on Fridays during Lent (unless my Gramps treated us to his fish chowder). When I moved away from Massachusetts, she would come visit me, flying to Texas or Illinois or Minnesota with a wooden box of salt cod tucked into her luggage, and she would make them for me to freeze so I’d have a supply after she went back home. She never had a recipe, per se — just tossed them together and fried them up on the stove — and even though she was an experienced and adventurous cook, it was this humble meal of hers that was my favorite.
My mom served codfish cakes, baked beans and brown bread on Saturday nights. We put ketchup on the codfish cakes. I loved them. I hadn’t had them in years and ordered them at a seafood restaurant a while ago and they didn’t taste the same.
Nothing has ever compared to dinners our Moms made . I have all her recipes , yet they are totally disappointing, but just to me . The little personal touches and the “heart “ can not be recaptured.
We had them regularly through the war (WW 2). My mother was an Italian immigrant, brought up by 1st generation Irish nuns in NYC. She cooked Irish, German @ Christmas, Italian-American any old time.
My Mom made a fabulous Finnan Haddie dish with the ubiquitous wooded box of salted cod from the IGA in Burlington, Ma. It was heavenly, even to my little kid palate ❤️
This is very similar to a tradicional Portuguese Recipe called “Bolinhos de bacalhau” or “pasteis de Bacalhau”, the dish is typical from the North of Portugal, although nowadays you can have it all over the country . Our cooking method is somehow different from yours, and we add Port wine and parsley as ingredients. Do you have a big Portuguese community over there?
Hi Teresa! Yes! Massachusetts actually has the largest Portuguese population in America (and neighboring Rhode Island is #3), so it’s no surprise we have an especially strong love for salt cod. The Port wine and parsley sound like great additions (our recipe here is very basic, and — for me — a little plain!). Thanks for commenting!
My grandmother originally from Nova Scotia taught us to make them. Ours are flattened more like cakes. Go perfectly with baked beans and freeze well. To say I love them is an understatement!
Our bolinhos de bacalhau recipe dates back to the year 1912 but originated also in northern, continental, Portugal. It includes finely chopped onion and fresh parsley but no wine. Growing up in Massachusetts I can recall a good friend whose family was Boston Brahmin standing in the kitchen happily awaiting my mother’s preparation of this delightful treat so he could carry some back home. His family ate “codfish cakes” for breakfast and were so grateful for the gift.
Wonderful bolos de bacalhau……I could not wait for my mother to make them as I grew up in R.I. What great memories I have of eating them at various occasions and holidays. When I moved west for a job I met a family from England and my wife and I made some for a party. They were very familiar with them but they had them at Christmas with a pouched egg on top of them. Try that it was very good. But I miss eating bacalhau every Friday as I did growing up.
My Mum would make her wonderful codfish cakes often, and especially on Fridays during Lent (unless my Gramps treated us to his fish chowder). When I moved away from Massachusetts, she would come visit me, flying to Texas or Illinois or Minnesota with a wooden box of salt cod tucked into her luggage, and she would make them for me to freeze so I’d have a supply after she went back home. She never had a recipe, per se — just tossed them together and fried them up on the stove — and even though she was an experienced and adventurous cook, it was this humble meal of hers that was my favorite.
Would fresh cod work? Thanks!
My mother made codfish cakes with fresh codfish and mashed potatoes. Great Saturday night supper along with homemade Boston Baked Beans.
My mom served codfish cakes, baked beans and brown bread on Saturday nights. We put ketchup on the codfish cakes. I loved them. I hadn’t had them in years and ordered them at a seafood restaurant a while ago and they didn’t taste the same.
Nothing has ever compared to dinners our Moms made . I have all her recipes , yet they are totally disappointing, but just to me . The little personal touches and the “heart “ can not be recaptured.
We had them regularly through the war (WW 2). My mother was an Italian immigrant, brought up by 1st generation Irish nuns in NYC. She cooked Irish, German @ Christmas, Italian-American any old time.
My Mom made a fabulous Finnan Haddie dish with the ubiquitous wooded box of salted cod from the IGA in Burlington, Ma. It was heavenly, even to my little kid palate ❤️
Very portuguese!
Excellent hot or cold!