The Jewish community of Rome is the oldest in Europe: there are reports of Jews who lived in this city as early as 161 BC; therefore, the Jewish community of Rome is much older than the Papacy and has been a constant presence in the history of the city for 2000 years.
The Roman culinary tradition owes a great deal to the presence of the Jews; one of their recipes, which has become popular even among non-Jews, is that of the fried cod fillet.
Even today in the center there are groceries and restaurants that sell this delicacy.
The restaurant in Largo dei Librari, now very touristic, has made it an attraction with its huge pots in which these delicacies are fried.
The cod fillets must be well desalted. The process is long. They are kept in a container and let the water run flush for about three days, changing it continuously. A family classic in the past was to have a pan with a large piece of salt cod in the kitchen sink, starting on Wednesday; the cod was then cooked for Friday in various ways.
I learned this recipe from a course led by Chef Andrea Palmieri at the professional school I attended.

Fried cod fillets

  • Preparation time: 30 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficulty recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 4 fillets of boneless cod without skin
  • For the batter:
  • 110 gr or 4 oz of pastry flour
  • 25 gr or 1 oz of rice flour
  • 125 gr or 4 ½ oz of frozen sparkling water
  • 15 gr or 1/2 oz of cornstarch
  • 3 gr or teaspoon of brewer’s yeast
  • 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
  • Pinch of salt
  • Pinch of sugar
  • Peanut oil for frying
  • Salt to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. Prepare a batter: Dissolve the yeast in a little water and add the flour, sugar, and then the sparkling water until you get a firm batter. Add more water up to a maximum of 250 gr or 9 oz of water. Add the oil and salt. The batter should have a consistency similar to a custard.
  3. Let the cellophane-covered batter rise for at least an hour.
  4. Then turn it well with a whisk and place it covered with cellophane in the refrigerator for about five hours.
    Rinse the cod fillets and dry them with absorbent paper. Leave them in large pieces or divide them into morsels, as I do for convenience as they take less time in frying and above all I can use smaller pans.
  5. Fill two pots of oil: the first bring to strong heat at about 350° F while the other at moderate heat.
  6. Dip some cod fillets in the chilled batter and place them in the pan with oil at moderate temperature.
  7. Cook for a few minutes, drain, and immerse them in the one with the boiling oil.
  8. Fry until the batter is golden brown.
  9. Drain, dry on absorbent paper, salt and serve.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • The batter should always be very cold. For large amounts of batter and cod fillets, it would be advisable to put the bowl of batter into another ice-filled bowl.
  • Corn starch and rice flour make the batter “crunchier” when fried.
  • When the fillet is added into the first oil it will tend to go down on the bottom and stick. Do not touch it as otherwise the batter will break. It will come off by itself and will tend to rise when the raw batter starts to cook.
  • When the fried food is drained and put on absorbent paper towel to dry, avoid putting it too close or even above another piece of fried fish. The more the fried fish is stored in layers the more it will soften and lose its crunchiness.