Dried Fish in Mexican Market

I stopped in my favorite Mexican grocery yesterday to pick up a few things. In the bulk dried peppers, posole, etc bin were these dried and flattened fish. They were about 12-14 inches long and almost in 'sheets'.
You could pick up 3 to 4 at a time. The two guys buying some of them said they were good, but after that the language barrier was too much for me.

Anybody seen these? Do you boil them? I'm intrigued. Thanks!

Good question.

I'll bet they are salllllllllllllllty.

Can't wait to hear from people who have dared actually eat them.

I have never tried the dried fish. The dried shrimp I buy all the time. They are chewy but make a good beer snack. I have heard people use them in seafood soup. You could probably use the fish the same way.

joe

Yes it's bacalar {sp?} You can soak it in milk to get rid of the saltieness and reconstitute it. I've used it succesfully for homemade fish cakes or a mock finnean haddie. Many Italian markets carry it also. Chow Jim

Thanks for the replies! I found some recipes for bacalao, including one with the fish, sauted onion and garlic scrambled with eggs. Sounds interesting! That recipe also talked about using a fork to scrape the meat off around the bones after rehydrating. These were whole fish, not boneless pieces.

This market also had Victoria beer, so next time I'll get some dried shrimp to go with it. Also, I won't go on a Sunday- dang blue laws in S.C.!

I saw lotsa dried shrimp at the Fiesta on South Main Street in Houston. They had an immense supply so I assumed they sold a lot of them. I never had the nerve to buy them although I was tempted.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

quote:

Originally posted by Jimeats

Yes it's bacalar {sp?} You can soak it in milk to get rid of the saltieness and reconstitute it. I've used it succesfully for homemade fish cakes or a mock finnean haddie. Many Italian markets carry it also. Chow Jim

Jim, salted, dried fish (often Cod) is found in many cultures, even in ancient Rome. Hence, it is still popular as an Italian dish (they usually spell it baccala ).

Like you, I have reconstituted it by soaking it in milk and then making good (well, actually, "okay") fishcakes with it.

There are hundreds of recipes on the internet (I have about 75 in my collection) which use baccala. Even Mario Batali has used it on his show and in his restaurants.

Frankly, I would just as soon use "fresh" fish in my dishes, but baccala is a historical novelty and it's fun to experiment with it.

Indeed, it seems that the dried, salted fish is making a come-back, as evidenced by the original poster's observation.

I read somewhere (but I can't find the reference at the moment) that the Mayans salted and dried fish as well. Probably would have been a salt-water fish.

But, that could explain why it (salted fish) is still found in Latin American markets.