Cod

Thanks to traditional fish and chip dinners, Cod has been the UK’s favourite fish for many years! This is thanks to its bright white flesh, distinctive yet subtle flavour and firm, large, succulent flakes. Farmed Cod has a distinct milk-like aroma which goes through to its flavour, starting sharp and softening to a sweeter taste. Wild Cod has a firm flesh with large flakes which, when cooked, fall apart easily. Wild Cod has base notes of floury potatoes with a taste of dill followed by a subtle oceanic taste.Pacific Cod is more subtle in flavour than Atlantic Cod.

Cod fish is caught all around the UK. Atlantic Cod live in colder waters in the North Atlantic and Pacific Cod live in the east and west of the Northern Pacific. Along with locally caught, British and Irish landings of cod, the majority of Direct Seafoods Cod is caught in the North Atlantic, with Iceland being a major supplier.

According to the Marine Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland and the Torry Research Station of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foo; Phocanema and Anisakis larvae are killed in 1 minute at a temperature of 60°C or over. In practice this means that cooking a fillet 3 cm thick for 10 minutes at 60°C will kill any worms present.

“No matter how carefully fish is inspected by processors, caterers and retailers, some worms will occasionally be discovered in fish by the consumer. There have been cases of human illness caused by the ingestion of live Phocanema or Anisakis larvae in countries where raw or lightly cured fish is commonly eaten. By 1980, there had been only one reported case of illness in the UK caused by larval round worms from fish; this is because in the UK fish products are normally cooked before consumption. This information has been taken from notes prepared jointly by the Marine Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland and the Torry Research Station of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.