Salt cod fritters

Serves 4

(Jason Lowe)

Depending how much fillet you have left will obviously decide how many fritters you can make. Either way, this is a great way to use up tail ends, etc, for tasty little snacks. You can even mould these with a teaspoon and make little canapé-sized nibbles to have with drinks.

About 500g cod fillet, skinned
120-150g coarse rock or sea salt
1 bay leaf
2 medium-sized floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2tbsp olive oil
300ml milk
50g plain flour
3 medium eggs, beaten
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
Vegetable or corn oil for deep frying

The day before, place the cod in a non-reactive bowl and cover with salt and leave overnight in the fridge. The next day rinse it off and soak in cold water for a couple of hours, changing the water a couple of times.

Put the cod into a pan with the bay leaf, cover with water and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the cod from the pan with a slotted spoon and leave to cool on a plate. Add the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes or so until tender, and drain. Return to the pan on a low heat for a minute or so to let any excess water evaporate.

Put the milk and olive oil into a pan and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and slowly mix in the flour with a wooden spoon until smooth. Leave to cool slightly then gradually beat in the eggs until smooth. Mash the potatoes and mix into the milk mixture with the cod, garlic and parsley. Try not to break up the cod too much, it needs to have a bit of texture. Season to taste and leave to cool for an hour or so.

Pre-heat about 8cm of oil to 160-180C in a large, thick-bottomed saucepan or electric deep-fat fryer. Using a dessert spoon, scoop rough shapes of the mix and drop into the fryer and cook for 2-3 minutes, turning them with a slotted spoon while cooking until nicely coloured, then drain on some kitchen paper.

Serve as they are or with lemon or aioli or a garlicky mayonnaise.