The Shetland Cure preserving salt cod tradition

This isn’t the first time we’ve tried a dried fish product but what we received from Thule Ventus is quite different. Thule Ventus Shetland Air-Dried Salt Cod was a more pleasant experience compared to the dried cod we’d sampled on a tip to Iceland. Chewing on hard, dry fish slathered with butter was a bit of a culture shock,
This Shetland Air-Dried Salt Cod is meant to be cooked which returns it to its previous state of something softer and more palatable.

Another side to this artisan product is that it is keeping alive a food tradition of Shetland and David Polson of Thule Ventus is very much at the heart of conserving the heritage with a re-imagining of the ‘Shetland Cure’.

Salt cod does have an element of convenience as it can be stored in the cupboard. Our pack had a good eight months of shelf life. Perhaps the only downside to this, is that you need to plan ahead, as the salt cod must be soaked and rinsed over a period of 48 hours prior to cooking.

The quality of the fish is good and despite starting out looking meagre, the cooked fish has decent sizes flakes of flesh with a good meaty texture. There are a few bones but that is expected.

Its flavour is undeniably that of cod and naturally slightly sweet and somewhat more concentrated, but in no way horribly fishy. A sure sign that the freshest caught fish is used.