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Ten things to know about this traditional dish of Nîmes cuisine. The tenth answers the question in the title!
#1 – Cod arrived on French tables during the 16th century, at the time of the discovery of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.
#2 – It became an element of Nîmes cuisine in the 17th century, Breton sailors bartering it for Aigues-Mortes salt which they used to preserve the product of their fisheries.
#3 – The word “brandade” comes from the Occitan “brandar” which means “to stir”.
#4 – The recipe for brandade was codified in 1830, in a work entitled Le Cuisinier Durand, named after Charles Durand, a chef from Nîmes.
#5 – In 1894, Alphonse Daudet, the author of Lettres de mon moulin, brought together the people from Nîmes living in Paris at the Café Voltaire on the Place de l’Odéon for a brandade dinner!
#6 – For the President of the Republic Gaston Doumergue (1924-1931), originally from Nîmes, “when you taste brandade, you hear the cicadas singing in the pines of the Tour Magne”.
#7 – Before him, another President of the Republic had a soft spot for brandade. It was Adolphe Thiers (1871-1873) who said that it was “the masterpiece of the human race”.
#8 – Only three ingredients are essential for the preparation of Nîmes brandade: cod, milk and olive oil. The argument over garlic will never be resolved and the potato is only optional!
#9 – In Nîmes, brandade can be eaten as is with a few boiled potatoes but also as a garnish to stuff vegetables, in puff pastry or in a Nîmes style croque-monsieur with brandade replacing ham.
#10 – The obvious companion to a cod brandade is a white wine from Costières de Nîmes, whose freshness and fatness combine perfectly with the crumbly texture and iodized taste of the preparation.
Photo credit : Gard Tourisme