Salt cod substitutes

This is the real answer if you have a day. Bury skinless fillets in a bed of coarse salt in a covered dish in the fridge, 24 hours for thin pieces and up to 48 for thick loin, then rinse thoroughly and pat dry. The salt firms the proteins and draws out water, so the fish flakes into dense, meaty pieces instead of falling apart. It tastes cleaner and less deeply cured than commercial baccala, missing the aged, faintly funky note that months of drying gives.

Best for

salt cod fritters, brandade and baccala mantecato, stews and tomato-based dishes, salads with potato and olives

You do not need to soak home-salted cod for days; a 15-minute rinse in cold water is usually enough. Taste a poached scrap before you build the dish so you can adjust the salt.

The weeknight version. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of coarse salt per 450 g of fillet, leave it an hour, then rinse and dry well. It firms up noticeably and holds together far better than untreated fish, but it still tastes plainly of fresh cod, sweet and mild, without the concentrated savoury depth of a real cure.

Best for

fritters and croquettes, quick stews, baked dishes, when you decided on dinner at 5pm

Mash one or two anchovy fillets into the batter or the mixture to supply the cured, savoury note the short salting cannot. Squeeze the fish dry in a clean towel before mixing.

Often sold in the same section of the same shops, usually cheaper, and functionally almost identical since the curing method is the same. The flake is a little softer and finer than cod and the flavour slightly less sweet, but in a fritter or a stew almost nobody would pick it out. Pieces are often thinner, so they need less soaking.

Best for

everything salt cod is used for, fritters, stews, brandade

Start tasting for saltiness after 12 to 18 hours of soaking rather than going the full 48, or thin salted pollock ends up bland and mushy.

Air-dried cod with no salt added, the ingredient many northern Italian recipes actually mean when they say baccala. It needs two to four days of soaking with frequent water changes but no desalting, so the finished flavour is cleaner and more intensely cod-like. The texture is chewier and more fibrous than salt cod, which is prized in dishes like baccala alla vicentina.

Best for

baccala alla vicentina, slow-braised dishes, recipes where a firm chew is wanted

Because it carries no salt, you will need to season the dish properly yourself. Ask for it to be sawn into pieces at the shop, because dry stockfish is close to impossible to cut at home.

Already salty and firm, so it behaves correctly in the pan and needs no preparation beyond a short soak in milk if it is very salty. It brings smoke, which salt cod does not have, so the dish tastes distinctly smoky rather than brinily cured; that suits brandade and chowder beautifully and pushes a delicate Venetian whipped baccala somewhere else entirely.

Best for

brandade, chowders and creamy dishes, fish cakes and croquettes, potato-based dishes

Choose undyed smoked haddock, since the bright yellow dyed kind will colour a creamy dish. Poach it gently in milk and use that milk in the dish.

The emergency option, and only for fritters, croquettes and mixed fillings where the fish is bound with potato. It tastes clearly of tuna, and the texture is soft and shreddy rather than flaked and firm, so the fritters are denser and less interesting. It already carries salt, so hold back on seasoning until you taste.

Best for

fritters and croquettes bound with potato, fish cakes, stuffed vegetables

Use oil-packed tuna and drain it well. Do not attempt brandade or baccala mantecato with it, because the emulsion depends on cured fish protein and the result will be a loose, fishy paste.