Fish and Brewis, huh?

Welcome to my first installment of "A Nibble of History"!

I often get frustrated with the food in fantasy novels. It seems that everyone is eating bread, beef jerky, and lots and lots of meat. No matter how poor or transient the characters, all they eat is meat and bread that never seems to go bad.

I remember one book in particular (whose title I've erased from memory) that was based on a fantastical version of Iceland or Newfoundland and the author just could not get the food right at all. In the midst of winter, they had a steady, fresh supply of meat (with no consideration of the reproductive cycles of these beasts) and, my favourite, fresh bread on board ships. Fresh bread!

I grew up in Newfoundland, a small island off the eastern coast of Canada. It has developed its own unique style of cuisine based on its history of isolation, being a fishing community, and its historical fish for molasses and rum trade with Jamaica and the West Indies.

[image error]One of the quintessential meals in Newfoundland is Fish and Brewis (pronounced brews). Live fish could not be transported any great distance before refrigeration. It was often salted, both for local use and for trade. Salt cod (just called salt fish back home) was king.

Bread also did not preserve well on board ships. Hard Tack (we call it Hard Bread at home) is a hard bread that can be eaten dry or soaked and cooked with fish.

Potatoes were common and good storage vegetables, so everyone in Newfoundland had them. We even grew our own!

So, how would this meal have been eaten? Fish and Brewis can  be made a few different ways, but the core recipe hasn't really ever changed in centuries. This is how my mom taught me and, whenever I can get my hands on some salt fish and salt pork fat, I make up a batch. Salt fish is common at home, but it's hard to come by and expensive out here in the prairies.

This is something you would have seen in fishing communities centuries ago…and today!

Break up and soak hard bread (1 cake per person) in water over night.

Soak 1 pound of salt fish in water over night.

The next day, drain the water from both. Put on a fresh pot of water and bring to a boil. Bring the water to a boil and cook the fish for about 20 minutes. Add peeled potatoes in the last ten minutes or so (1 potato per person).

In a small pot, boil up the brewis (some people cook it in the same pot as the fish, but I never liked it that way). Cook until tender, aboout 5-10 minutes.

Make your scrunchions: While this is going on, fry about 1/2 lb salt pork (fat back pork) and cut into thin strips. Fry until crisp and brown. Break up the pork into pieces.

Make your drawn butter: Cut up half an onion and fry until cooked, but not brown. Add 1/2 lb of butter and melt.

Drain your fish, potatoes, and brewis. Either serve individually or mash and mix it up. Some folks will pour drawn butter on their, others will pour the scrunchions, and my father will do both!

Rich, filling, and perfect after working hard on the boats all day or after having cut wood in the damp, up to your knees in snow all day.