Buljol

Ingredients

Fish

• 400 gboneless salt cod

Salad

• 2tomatoes, diced
• 1onion, finely sliced
• 1sweet pepper, diced
• 2spring onions, sliced
• 1hot pepper, deseeded and minced
• 4 tbspolive oil
• juice of 1 lime
• black pepper

To serve

• 1avocado, sliced
• 2hard-boiled eggs, quartered
• fried bakes, or roast breadfruit

Directions

1. Rinse the salt cod under cold running water, then soak it in a large bowl of cold water for 8 to 12 hours, changing the water at least three times. Undersoaked salt fish is genuinely inedible rather than merely salty, so this is not a step to trim.
2. If you are short of time, cover the fish with fresh water, bring it to the boil and drain it, then repeat twice more. Twenty minutes of that does most of what an overnight soak does.
3. Taste a small flake before going any further. It should be pleasantly salty, about the level of a good anchovy, and no more. If it is still harsh, boil and drain it once again.
4. Squeeze the fish dry and flake it into coarse shreds with your fingers, feeling for bones and pulling off any tough skin as you go.
5. Toss the flaked fish with the tomato, onion, sweet pepper, spring onion and hot pepper.
6. Dress with the olive oil and lime juice and grind over plenty of black pepper. Add no salt at all until you have tasted it, because the fish almost always brings enough on its own.
7. Let it stand for 20 minutes so that the onion softens slightly and the flavours settle into one another.
8. Serve at room temperature with sliced avocado and hard-boiled egg over the top, alongside hot fried bakes or roast breadfruit.

Technique

• The fish is never cooked after soaking. Buljol is a raw-dressed salad, and any boiling is purely to draw the salt out.
• The name is thought to come from the French brûle gueule, burnt mouth, for the pepper in it.
• It is a breakfast dish across the eastern Caribbean, and it is better made an hour ahead than at the last minute.

Substitutions

• Smoked herring, which needs no long soak at all and is the other standard fish for it.
• Salted pollock or saithe, both cheaper than cod and behaving the same way.

Variations

• With cucumber added, which is common in Tobago.
• Stuffed into a hot fried bake as a sandwich.
• With a whole scotch bonnet bruised into the bowl and lifted out before serving, for scent without heat.

History

A salt fish breakfast salad of the eastern Caribbean, eaten with bakes or roast breadfruit; the name comes from French brule gueule, burnt mouth.

Frequently asked questions

What is Buljol?

Buljol is a breakfast from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: shredded salt cod tossed raw with tomato, onion, pepper and oil. A salt fish breakfast salad of the eastern Caribbean, eaten with bakes or roast breadfruit; the name comes from French brule gueule, burnt mouth.

How long does Buljol take to make?

Buljol takes 20 min plus 8 hr soaking of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Buljol?

Yes, within limits. Smoked herring, which needs no long soak at all and is the other standard fish for it. Salted pollock or saithe, both cheaper than cod and behaving the same way.

What is the most important thing to get right in Buljol?

Rinse the salt cod under cold running water, then soak it in a large bowl of cold water for 8 to 12 hours, changing the water at least three times. Undersoaked salt fish is genuinely inedible rather than merely salty, so this is not a step to trim.