Haddock or offshore hake is a popular marine fish, which is white, flaky, and lean when cooked, and is fished commercially for consumption. It is however a species whose existence has now become vulnerable due to over fishing. Haddock is one of the most popular food fishes of Britain, and is extensively used along with the cod in Fish n Chips. The haddock has fine white flesh, and when fresh produces translucent fillets. Old fillets take on a chalky color. Haddock is commercially sold in fresh, frozen, smoked, dried, and even in canned form. Finnan haddie and arbroath smokie are a couple of haddock based special food preparations. Haddocks can be prepared in grilled, baked, seared, casserole, and stuffed form. Smoked haddock is also a popular way of preparing the fish.
Significance in Different Countries
- Scotland- in Scotland, haddocks are served popularly in fish suppers.
- Norway- Norwegian fish balls are made with haddock as the vital ingredient.
- Britain- fish chips in Britain make use of haddock as one of the essential ingredients.
Preservation
Haddocks do not salt well. Therefore, they are usually preserved by smoking and drying. Preserving haddock through smoking was done in a greatly refined manner in Grimsby, where the smoked haddock was produced in traditional smoke houses. Most of the smoke houses were family operated businesses, developing their techniques and skills, with respect to preparing smoked fish, over several generations. The main sources of haddock in Grimsby were from Norway, Faroe, and Iceland, all located in North East Atlantic.
Popular Haddock Preparations
A few popular haddock based preparations are discussed below:
- Finnan Haddie- cold smoked haddock is served in breakfast after being poached in milk. The name of the fish base dish has been kept after Findon or Finnan, a village in Scotland.
- Arbroath Smokie- this haddock dish got its name from Arbroath, a town in Scotland’s east coastal area. This dish is prepared through hot smoking method and does not require further cooking before being consumed.
- Kedgeree- this is a popular Anglo-Indian dish having smoked haddock as one of its vital ingredients.
Popular Haddock Recipes
A few popular haddock recipes have been discussed hereunder:
- Oven baked haddock- oven baked haddock recipe suggests dipping haddock fillets in milk, coating them with bread crumb mix, and baking them in preheated oven after being drizzled with melted butter. The bread crumb mix is a blend of thyme, parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs.
- Herb fried haddock fillets- the flavor of the haddock fish fillets gets enhanced when it is marinated in a mix of herbs and buttermilk. The recipe for this dish suggests marinating haddock fillets in a mix of chives, buttermilk, lemon juice, and dill; seasoning them with salt and pepper; coating them with flour; and frying them in hot oil until golden brown.
- Grilled haddock- haddock cooks very well on grill, with the grilled haddock recipe suggesting dipping haddock fillets in milk, coating them with bread crumbs, sprinkling them with salt and lemon pepper, drizzling melted butter on top of fillets, and grilling them on hot grill until flaky.
Nutrition and Health Facts
193 g of raw haddock provides around 168 calories, obtained from 1 g of fat, 110 mg of cholesterol, 131 mg of sodium, and 36 g of protein. Haddock is very low in fat and rich in protein. It also has high vitamin B12 content along with pyridoxine and selenium. The health benefits associated with a few vital nutrients of haddock have been explained hereunder:
- Protein- haddock is a very good source of protein, thus helping to fight against cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
- B vitamins- being a good source of B vitamins, consumption of haddock would help in production of red blood cells, and boosting up the metabolism level of an individual.
- Selenium- haddock is also a rich source of selenium, which helps in preventing an individual from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Further, this mineral also helps in boosting up the immune system of a person.
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