DIY -- bacalao

I haven't done one of these columns for a while but here's one. I spent about $7.50 for a little over a pound of fresh cod.

I had some sugar/salt cure left over from a batch of lox. Added a little kosher salt to completely cover the cod.

Cured it about 5 days, then soaked out some of the salt.

For this, you would pay nearly $20 on Amazon.

Is that even a choice?

I also bought nearly a pound of fresh haddock for $7.50 and put it in vinegar and salt. I'm going to pickle it with wine sauce.

You can get Vita Herring in Wine Sauce for about half this amount BUT Vita's website tells you it contains polysorbate 80. This emulsifier and its relatives may relate to obesity by altering gut bacteria.
https://www.nature.com/news/food-preservatives-linked-to-obesity-and-gut-disease-1.16984

Well, I haven't had ice cream in nearly 5 years but at first that was just to cut some fat out of my diet. Now, I wonder why I need emulsifiers, if I can make the product myself without them.

By the way, there are also emulsions in soft drinks. One of the emulsifying ingredients is gum arabic.
https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5710/4/2/25/htm

This is a product of Sudan and has not been banned as coming from a conflict region only because it would disrupt the soda industry.

Use of straight gum Arabic causes digestive discomfort for a week.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3570285/

While that eventually produced a small drop in BMI, use of gum Arabic in sodas does not have that effect. It is offset by the fact that the sweetener in soda -- no matter what chemical it is or how many calories it has -- causes the pancreas to wear itself out taking sugar from the bloodstream and turning it into fat. So all sodas coordinate with both obesity and Type II diabetes.

Do your homework to find the hidden emulsifiers in your food and drink. In the meantime, I'm all over that price saving on the salt cod, for which I have a great stew recipe.

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