Lagoon Cream: Mantecato Salt Cod on Polenta Crostini

La storia di questo piatto

"Crema di laguna" is not a codified tradition but an interpretation: a dish that borrows the cadence of Veneto's lagoon cooking, where salt cod and polenta have long shared the same table. It belongs to no century, only to the kitchen of whoever dreams it up.

Ingredienti

• 450 g salt cod already soaked and desalted (fillets with skin)
• 600 ml cold water for cooking the salt cod (150 ml set aside for the mantecato)
• 1 piece bay leaf
• 100 ml delicate extra virgin olive oil for the mantecato
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 piece untreated lemon (half for the mantecato, half to finish)
• 10 g fresh parsley (7 g in the mantecato, 3 g to finish)
• 2 pinch ground white pepper (1 pinch in the mantecato, 1 to finish)
• 1 pinch fine salt for the mantecato (only if needed, after tasting)
• 125 g bramata cornmeal for the polenta
• 500 ml water for the polenta
• 5 g fine salt for the polenta
• 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for frying the crostini (2 tablespoons per batch)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil raw to finish

Preparazione

1. Start with the polenta, as it needs time to firm up. Bring the 500 ml of water to a boil with 5 g of fine salt: this is where you season, since cornmeal salted afterwards never tastes quite the same. Pour the 125 g of bramata cornmeal in a steady rain with one hand while whisking with the other: this motion prevents lumps. Lower the heat and stir with a wooden spoon for 35-40 minutes, until the polenta pulls away from the sides of the pot and the spoon leaves a groove that holds. If you started from dried salt cod, remember it must soak 48 hours in cold water, changed every 8-12 hours: here we use the ready-prepared one.
2. Pour the hot polenta onto a board or into a baking tray wetted with cold water: the water prevents sticking. Spread it with a spatula, also wet, into a rectangle about 15 x 20 cm and about 2 cm thick. Then let it rest for 60 minutes, until it is cold all the way through: only then does it become firm, cut cleanly, and form a crisp crust in the pan. If you touch it and still feel a trace of warmth, give it more time. Meanwhile, prepare the infused oil and the salt cod (steps 3-7).
3. While the polenta rests, prepare the oil: in a small saucepan warm the 100 ml of delicate extra virgin oil with the crushed garlic clove over very low heat for about 4 minutes. You'll know to stop when the oil smells of garlic but the garlic has not taken on color. Remove the garlic and let the oil cool slightly while you cook the salt cod: if too hot it will cook the fish and break the emulsion, if too cold it will not bind. It should be lukewarm, as if you were resting it on your wrist.
4. Place the salt cod in a saucepan with the 600 ml of cold water and the bay leaf, skin side down. Bring almost to a boil and, as soon as the first trembling appears on the surface, lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes. A strong boil would toughen the flesh, so the water should barely simmer. The fish is ready when the flesh flakes into large pearly flakes at the sides of the fork. Do not salt the water: the salt cod already brings its own salt.
5. Drain the salt cod and set aside 150 ml of its cooking liquid in a small pan: the gelatin released by the skin and flesh will help the emulsion of the mantecato. If it has cooled in the meantime, reheat it gently until lukewarm. Work the fish while it is still lukewarm, as cold flesh hardens and is difficult to work. Remove the skin and bones with your fingers, flaking the flesh into a wide bowl. Run your fingertips calmly over all the flesh: fine bones are felt more than they are seen.
6. Now comes the key part: the mantecatura. Work the salt cod with the wooden spoon, pressing it against the sides of the bowl, or use the flat beater of a stand mixer at medium speed. Add the 100 ml of lukewarm oil in a very thin stream, alternating with spoonfuls of the warm reserved cooking liquid (up to 150 ml, as much as the mixture absorbs), and always stir in the same direction for 8-10 minutes. Add each spoonful only once the previous one has been absorbed. The right sign is a white, airy, creamy mixture like barely whipped cream, with the spoon standing upright in it. If it becomes greasy and separates, don't worry: add a spoonful of warm liquid and keep stirring patiently.
7. Flavor the mantecato with the grated zest of half a lemon (only the yellow part, the white is bitter), a teaspoon of juice squeezed from that same half, 1 pinch of ground white pepper, and 7 g of finely chopped parsley. Set aside the other lemon half for the final step. Then always taste. If needed, add up to 1 pinch of fine salt, cautiously, as the salt cod is already salty. The lemon should be barely perceptible: its role is to lighten the richness of the oil and bring out the flavor of the fish. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 90 °C: it will keep the crostini warm.
8. When the polenta is well chilled, cut it into 12 rectangles of about 5 x 5 cm (3 rows of 4). Heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat and fry 6 crostini for 3-4 minutes per side; transfer them to a baking tray in the 90 °C oven to keep warm, then repeat with another 2 tablespoons of oil and the remaining 6 crostini, for 4 tablespoons in total. The trick is not to touch or move them: leave them until a golden crust forms and you hear the slight crackle when you nudge them with the spatula. Drain on kitchen paper before returning them to the oven.
9. Now assemble: 4 portions of 3 crostini each. On the still-warm crostini, place a quenelle, that is a generous, well-rounded spoonful, of mantecato at room temperature. The contrast between warm and cool, crisp and creamy is the heart of this dish. Finish with 1 tablespoon of raw extra virgin olive oil drizzled over the 12 crostini, 1 pinch of white pepper, and the leaves from the remaining 3 g of parsley. Before serving, taste one crostino: if it lacks brightness, squeeze a few drops from the other lemon half; if it lacks flavor, a pinch of salt on the edge of the crostino.