How to Cook Cod (or How NOT to Cook Cod)

This week seems to be about cooking adventures. Yesterday, our neighbours gave Peter some fresh cod. This is the last week of the food fishery and someones brother in law had been out to catch some fish. Food fishery is one of those odd terms that seems redundant to me. Like why else would anyone catch fish except for food? But what it means is that non commercial people like someones brother in law can go out and get some cod for personal use. Or to give to the crazy Nova Scotians next door.
According to our neighbours who are gay, but otherwise true Newfoundlanders through and through, there is only one way to cook fresh cod. In fact, they were so adamant about it, they gave me explicit instructions. Twice. You chop up some salt pork fat into little squares and fry them until the fat is all rendered ( this is called scruntcheons). Then you dredge the cod in flour and fry it in the pork fat. You buy the salt pork fat in the grocery store in the meat section, right next to the salt pork riblets and the blood pudding. This is not a joke.
But here is the thing, the day before I had made breaded pork cutlets for dinner and I didn't really want to eat something fried two days in a row. Plus, I don't really like cod that much, and I knew the only way I would enjoy it was to disguise it. So I opened the Joy of Cooking and found a recipe for Fresh Cod a la Portuguese. Now even a Newfoundlander has to admit the Portuguese must know something about cooking cod. Essentially it is cod poached in a tomato and white wine sauce, and it was pretty good. When I told my neighbours what I was doing they were utterly horrified. I think if they had been able to demand I return their cod they would have. (Waste of Cod!) But then again, they are getting used to hearing about the crazy stuff we eat: the other day I made Dave try some halva.