Cod as food

Codand other cod-likefishhave been widely used as food through history. Other cod-like fish come from the same family (Gadidae) that cod belong to, such ashaddock,pollock, andwhiting.
Cod is popular as afoodwith a mild flavour and a dense, flakywhite flesh. Young Atlantic cod orhaddockprepared in strips for cooking is calledscrod. Cod's soft liver can be canned or fermented intocod liver oil, providing an excellent source ofvitamin A,vitamin D,vitamin Eandomega-3 fatty acids(EPAandDHA).Cod flesh is moist and flaky when cooked and is white in colour. In the United Kingdom,Atlantic codis one of the most common ingredients infish and chips, along withhaddockandplaice. Cod can be easily turned into various other products, such as cod liver oil, omega pills, etc.
According to the laws ofkashrut, cod is considered kosher because it is afishwith both fins and scales.
Haddockis a very popular food fish, sold fresh,smoked, frozen, dried, and, to a small extent, canned. Haddock, along withcodandplaice, is one of the most popular fish used in Britishfish and chips.
Fresh haddock has a clean white flesh and can be cooked in the same ways as cod. Freshness of a haddock fillet can be determined by how well it holds together, as a fresh one will be firm; also, fillets should be translucent, while older fillets turn a chalky hue. Young, fresh haddock and cod fillets are often sold asscrodinBoston, Massachusetts; this refers to the size of the fish which have a variety of sizes, i.e. scrod, markets, and cows. Haddock is the predominant fish of choice in Scotland in afish supper. It is also the main ingredient of Norwegian fishballs (fiskeboller).
Unlike the relatedcod, haddock does notsaltwell and is often preserved bydryingandsmoking.
The smoking of haddock is something that was highly refined inGrimsby.Traditional Grimsby smoked fish(mainly haddock, but sometimes cod) is produced in the traditional smoke houses in Grimsby, which are mostly family-run businesses that have developed their skills over many generations.Grimsby fish market sources its haddock from the North East Atlantic, principally Iceland, Norway and Faroe. These fishing grounds are sustainably managedand have not seen the large scale depreciation in fish stocks seen in EU waters.
One popular form of haddock isFinnan haddie, named for the fishing village ofFinnan or Findonin Scotland, where it was originally cold-smoked overpeat. Finnan haddie is often servedpoachedin milk forbreakfast.
The town ofArbroathon the east coast of Scotland produces theArbroath Smokie. This is a hot-smoked haddock which requires no further cooking before eating.
Smoked haddock naturally has an off-white color; it is very oftendyedyellow, as are other smoked fish. Smoked haddock is the essential ingredient in the Anglo-Indian dishkedgeree.
In 2010, Greenpeace International has added the haddock to its seafood red list. "The Greenpeace International seafood red list is a list of fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries."
Atlantic pollockis largely considered to be a whitefish, although it is a fairly strongly flavored one. Traditionally a popular source of food in some countries, such asNorway, in the United Kingdom it has previously been largely consumed as a cheaper and versatile alternative to cod and haddock. However, in recent years pollock has become more popular due to over-fishing of cod and haddock. It can now be found in most supermarkets as fresh fillets or prepared freezer items. For example, it is used minced infish fingersor as an ingredient inimitation crab meat.
Because of its slightly gray color, pollock is often prepared, as in Norway, as fried fish balls, or if juvenile sized, breaded withoatmealand fried, as inShetland. Year-old fish are traditionally split, salted and dried over a peat hearth inOrkney, where their texture becomes wooden and somewhat phosphorescent. The fish can also be salted and smoked and achieve asalmon-like orange color (although it is not closely related to the salmon), as is the case inGermanywhere the fish is commonly sold asSeelachsor sea salmon. In Korea, pollock may be repeatedly frozen and melted to createhwangtae, half-dried to createko-da-ri, or fully dried and eaten asbook-o.
In 2009, U.K. supermarketSainsbury'srenamed pollock 'Colin' in a bid to boost ecofriendly sales of the fish as an alternative to cod.The supermarket also suggested some shoppers may be too embarrassed to ask for the species under its proper title, due to its reputation as an inferior fish, and its similarity to a popular English swear word (bollocks). Sainsbury's, which said the new name was derived from the French for cooked pollock (colin), launched the product under the banner "Colin and chips can save British cod".