Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks (which are called "hjell" in Norway) on the foreshore. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage life of several years. The method is cheap and effective in suitable climates; the work can be done by the fisherman and family, and the resulting product is easily transported to market. Over the centuries, several variants of dried fish have evolved. The stockfish (fresh dried, not salted) category is often mistaken for the klippfisk, or salted cod, category where the fish is salted before drying. Salting was not economically feasible until the 17th century, when cheap salt from southern Europe became available to the maritime nations of northern Europe. Stockfish is cured in a fermentation process where cold-adapted bacteria matures the fish, similar to the maturing process of cheese. In English legal records of the medieval period, stock fishmongers are differentiated from ordinary fishmongers when the occupation of a plaintiff or defendant is recorded.
Etymology
The word stockfish is a loan word from West Frisian stokfisk (stick fish), possibly referring to the wooden racks on which stockfish are traditionally dried or because the dried fish resembles a stick. "Stock" may also refer to a wooden yoke or harness on a horse or mule, once used to carry large fish from the sea or after drying/smoking for trade in nearby villages.
Importance Stockfish is Norway's longest sustained export commodity. Stockfish is first mentioned as a commodity in the 13th-century Icelandic prose work Egil's Saga, where chieftain Thorolf Kveldulfsson, in the year 875 AD, ships stockfish from Helgeland in mid-Norway to Britain. This product accounted for most of Norway's trade income from the Viking Age throughout the Medieval period. Stockfish was essential as food for the viking expeditions and raids in faraway countries. Preserved cod fed Iceland for centuries, to the extent that it has been described as a local equivalent of bread. Stockfish is extremely popular and is widely consumed in Catholic Mediterranean countries, mostly in Italy. (Stockfish is called stoccafisso in most Italian dialects, but confusingly baccalà—which normally refers to salt cod—in the Veneto). In Russian cuisine dried stockfish is a very popular dish which is often eaten with vodka and beer. In the 16th century Russian and Swedish stockfish were sold to many European countries.
Manufacturing and usage
The science of producing good stockfish is comparable to that of making a good cognac, Parma ham, or a well-matured cheese. Practitioners of the Slow Food movement insist that all these artisanal products must be made on a small scale and given time to mature. The fish is prepared immediately after capture. After gutting the fish, it is either dried whole, or split along the spine leaving the tail connected. The fish is hung on the hjell from February to May. Stable cool weather protects the fish from insects and prevents an uncontrolled bacterial growth. A temperature just above zero degrees Celsius, with little rain, is ideal. Too much frost will spoil the fish, as ice destroys the fibers in the fish. The climate in northern Norway is excellent for stockfish production, and remains so even with changing climate conditions. Salted/dried whitefish (klippfisk) was more common in the fisheries districts of Western Norway. Further south in Norway, the cod was salted in barrells from the 15th century. After its three months hanging on the hjell, the fish is then matured for another two to three months indoors in a dry and airy environment. During the drying, about 80% of the water in the fish evaporates. The stockfish retains much of the nutrients from the fresh fish, only concentrated: it is therefore rich in proteins, vitamins, iron, and calcium. Most of the Norwegian dried cod is exported to Portugal ($244M), Sweden ($76M), Nigeria ($30.5M), Brazil ($29.1M), and Italy ($23.2M). In Norway and Iceland, the stockfish is mostly used as a snack and for lutefisk production. In Italy, the fish (called stoccafisso) is soaked and used in various courses, and is viewed as a delicacy. It was popularized in Nigeria following its delivery as food aid during the Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s. Low-quality stockfish is also commonly used as supplemental food for pets, primarily as dog food or dog treats. The 2012–2015 project SafeTrackFood developed a method of indoor production of stockfish to accelerate the maturing and drying of the fish in a safe manner.
Dishes
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