What to drink with cod?

Guilherme Corrêa Dip WSET

Allegedly, cod is the star of traditional Portuguese cuisine. When I think of just one dish that evokes a country, such as feijoada in my Brazil, pasta in Italy or paella in Spain, it is a beautiful thick slice of cod, flaking off in its gelatin, dipped in good olive oil scented with garlic, that comes to mind.

The tradition in Portugal is to pair cod with red wine. But what does the technique of wine-food pairing tell us? How can we make the most of our “faithful friend” and not ruin that special bottle we’re planning to uncork on Christmas Eve? At the end of the day, wine is here to please and everyone can drink whatever they want with whatever dish they want, but from a technical point of view, this sommelier has to warn you: cod with red wine, no!

SO MANY RECIPES AND JUST ONE IDEA

The versatility of Gadus morhua or Atlantic cod on the table is astonishing. Combined with the fact that it has been consumed since the 14th century in Portugal, we are currently dazzled by this myriad of traditional recipes in which salted cod is the star. Thousands of preparations involving the fish being soaked, then baked or grilled, fried or poached, boiled and even “raw”. Many ingredients are included in these recipes that have been canonized over time, and some illustrious companions are often repeated in several of them: olive oil, garlic, onions, potatoes, eggs, grains, cream, turnip greens, olives, rice, bread, peppers...

One possibility for this article on pairing would be to list a series of them: Bacalhau à Brás, Bacalhau baked in the oven, Bacalhau com natas, Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá and then suggest a wine to accompany each one. But no, this time we want to show that regardless of the preparation, and the fine-tuning adjustments that we will make later with the wine to be paired, the fundamental characteristics of the cod will always be there, intransigently imposing their premises in relation to the wine bridegroom of this marriage that is at once difficult and auspicious. Let's do it!

THE PRINCE OF COLD SEAS AND IODINE

What makes salted cod so different from other fish, and what completely determines the wines you choose to accompany it?

Firstly, salted cod has a high protein content of over 20% of the meat, which is further concentrated by the salt curing process. These proteins are very important for the fish to survive in freezing waters, but they are not so essential for our purpose here, of wine-food pairing. The fat content is very low in the meat, approximately 1%, with healthy polyunsaturated omega 3 dominating the composition. The fact that it accumulates fat in the liver and is a lean fish in terms of meat is of utmost importance for us to understand that elements in wine that are traditionally used by sommeliers to emulsify and deter solid fat in food are not necessary: ​​acidity, flavor and carbon dioxide. Here we have an inverse situation of the wine to choose, compared to oily fish such as sardines, salmon, tuna, herring, eel, etc.

Due to the osmotic action of salting, there is a very high concentration of salt in the fish tissues, and even with a well-done soaking, cod is rich in sodium and consequently in one of the five essential flavors, saltiness. In fact, I don't like it at all when I taste a bland cod. It's like drinking a Baga without tannins or a Madeira without acidity.According to the rules of pairing, when we have a hard edge in the dish, such as the marked presence of salinity, we have to cushion this attack with elements of softness in the wine, namely: alcohol, polyalcohols such as glycerin, and, eventually, residual sugars.

In Portugal, salted cod is already an “acquired taste”, but for many foreigners who are new to the range of its intense and distinct flavors, concentrated by the salting and curing process, we have an idiosyncratic food, of the “love it or hate it” type. One of the reasons why cod leaves no one indifferent to its taste and smell profile is the fact that it is an intense source of umami, another essential flavor fully discussed in the article on pairing with tuna, in Revista de Vinhos nº 345. Fresh fish already has relatively high levels of inosinates, which are further enhanced by the concentration during salting. Since umami in the dish highlights and reveals all its hardness elements in the wine, once again we must recommend wines whose balance tips towards softness, and not towards the firmness conferred by the tannins-acids-salts triad.

However, the most important characteristic, which should be the main guide for navigating the dark and icy seas of pairing with cod, is its extremely high iodine content. Just 100g of cod provides approximately 120mcg of iodine, close to the total daily requirement of an adult. Very healthy as a food, certainly, but implacable in ruining any wine with tannins, and in this case, obviously wines that are macerated with skins, stems and seeds, red wines.

COD METALLIC TO RUFFLE

I mention Rufete because it was the light-bodied red wine I chose for my pairing test for this article, but it could have been any red wine with low tannins and a balance focused on the softness of the fruit. It was indeed a delicious Rufete from Beira Interior, Portugal’s answer to the fruity and elegant Pinot Noirs and the fine Beaujolais with very subtle tannins. This was one of the four wines I opened to accompany a gigantic piece of cod confit in olive oil in the oven, in the most natural way possible. I was expecting the result, because for many years I have been fighting against the idea of ​​red wines with cod. The silky and fruity Rufete became thin and hard, and its tannins were completely metallic, when compared with the iodine in the cod. A failed marriage with a contentious breakup. And the worst part is that I still sometimes see recommendations for tannic reds from Alentejo and Douro with cod, a disaster of epic proportions, in my opinion.

The second wine I tested with my beautifully preserved piece of cod, falling apart into succulent flakes coated in cod gelatin, was a talha wine from Alentejo, from one of my favorite producers in this school. A convincing talha white that had the necessary structure to cope with the cod, but whose phenolic richness, conferred by the fermentation with the skins, jumped out of balance, enhanced by the iodine of the cod. As with the red, the wine became thin, astringent and metallic, losing its fruit and balance. Bad marriages sometimes destroy the character of one of the parties.

FRESHNESS AND MINERALITY?

The world is increasingly demanding freshness, tension and minerality in white wines. This is the new trend, and even in the New World, where the hallmarks of some of its classic whites were power, creaminess and smoothness, the standard has changed radically in the last decade.I confess that I am one of the heralds of freshness and minerality in whites, and I get excited when I come across one Current Chardonnay from Chile, from Argentina, the United States or Australia, rather a tension-free fruit bomb, and I find ourselves vibrant, electrifying, pure and fresh as a Chablis from France.

The truth is that it is increasingly difficult to find a full-bodied white wine with a smooth, creamy and soft acidity. Anywhere in the world! And it is exactly this generous profile that we need for some foods and dishes like cod. The saltiness of the cod needs to find comfort in the smoothness of the wine. The umami of the cod will sharpen all the elements of hardness in the wine, and if the wine is already balanced towards freshness and minerality, it will be completely tilted towards the balance of hardness when it meets the cod.

The third wine I tried was a high-altitude white from the Douro, always impressive in its freshness and mineral flavor from the shale. Unfortunately, the balance of the wine, which was already pleasantly on the hard side, ended up completely harsh, as if we were listening to music with only the high notes, without the balance of the bass. And the cod had a taste of fish oil, perhaps due to the effect of the iron in the shale with the unsaturated fat.

BIG WHITES, BIG “PAIRINGS”

My fourth wine of the test with the cod steak created a perfect harmony, and I was able to fervently make the transition from a technical work experience to enjoying a delicious hedonistic moment.

A mature white wine from Alentejo, before the current transformation into wines with less alcohol and more freshness. Grandiose on the nose and in the mouth, fat, unctuous and almost sickening in the exuberance of the fruit, when accompanying the codfish its hard side, previously hidden in the balance, was accentuated and revealed by the umami load. Its alcoholic and glyceric smoothness dampened the saltiness of the fish. The iodine had nothing to metallicize, as the phenols of the wood were very discreet and already integrated into the structure. A harmonious marriage of two great characters.

Other great Portuguese whites known for their structure, body, unctuousness and richness, in addition to the Alentejo Antão Vaz, can bring fabulous harmonies with cod. But be careful not to have the balance governed by freshness and minerality. Some great Crossroads of Dão, although they are increasingly tense and mineral, Viogniers from Lisbon, Fernão Pires from Setúbal and Tejo, etc.

Then, for each specific recipe, we adjust the parameters of the wine to be paired a little, but always within the conditions discussed above. Another very important aspect of the superiority of these great alcoholic and smooth whites for the perfect match is that cod recipes usually have a lot of unctuousness, namely from the copious use of olive oil. For vegetable fat in liquid form, we do not use acidity to clean it, but rather alcohol in the case of whites and tannins in the case of reds (for which there is no option given the impressive amount of iodine in cod). Everything comes together perfectly to advocate smoothness over hardness when it comes to cod. A tender, generous, magnificent and comforting white, as Christmas Eve should be, where cod is absolutely essential.