the name for cod and related fish which have been simply dried (as opposed to being salted and dried) until their moisture content has been reduced to around 15%, when they are stiff as a board and will keep well. Some say that ‘stockfish’ means ‘stick-like fish’—though others say that the name was given because it is necessary to beat the product with a stick to help soften it up, and yet others think that the name refers to the poles or sticks on which the fish were hung to dry.
Stockfish was an important article of commerce in Europe in the 10th century and early medieval times. Later, when the salting of cod on a large scale became feasible (see salt cod), that method became more popular, but stockfish has continued to be preferred in parts of Africa and of Italy. Some names for it in other languages are: stockfisch (French), Stockfisch (German), stoccafísso (Italian), and stokkfisk or tørrfisk (Norwegian).
Stockfish, it need hardly be said, has to be soaked to prepare it for cooking.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
