Purity Hard and Sweet Bread
I guess every culture/region has some of its own “weird” foods, and Newfoundland is no exception. I guess being reliant so much on fish as a locale (and by fish I mean cod, to Newfoundlanders any other fish has a name), we came up with or borrowed many unique methods of preparation. One of these is Fish n Brewis. The link provided is wrong in my opinion though. It says that fish n brewis uses salt cod and fisherman’s brewis uses fresh. I’ve always known it to be the opposite; we always use fresh, and I personally don’t care for the salt fish variety.
Even in the fresh there are different methods of serving, but first… what is it? Well its basically hard tack (hard bread) soaked in water to soften, and boiled fish. Sound appetizing right? Well it is delicious! Even better when served with rendered pork fat and scruncheons drizzled over it! Some people prefer to keep the bread and fish separate, I’ve actually never tried it that way, I prefer it mashed together, drizzled with pork, and blackened with pepper, mmmmm.
Some people serve it with drawn or drawing butter, another thing I’ve never been fond of, though all it is is butter, onion and flour thickened as a sauce.
I’m not really sure the origin of fish and brewis, but I like to think its probably from the offshore fishery or navy, where non-perishable foods like hard tack were prominent, and cooks needed to improvise meals as best they can.
In any event, today’s supper was a memory of home. Hope you get to enjoy some soon!
Raised in outport Newfoundland in a town of 65 people, I pursued a post secondary diploma in Information Technology right out of High School.
I’ve always been a geek at heart, but yet I love the rural life I grew up with. Fishing, hunting, camping and the great outdoors are still loves of mine, even if I don’t pursue them as often as I once did. Sports were always a big part of our lives, and I played many (badly) and loved them all.
