Alternatively, you can beat your stock fish with your ships' biscuits.

Cooking fish: - Beat it like it owes you money

"First take your stock fish and beat the devil out of it." -Bob Ross.

The only certainties in life are death and taxes Townsend: and a touch of nutmeg

I can't believe that a piece of driftwood turned into an appetizing looking dish!

Man: What's for dinner? Woman: mummified fish and dehydrated breads. Man: Mmmmm.

One of the top chess engines is called Stockfish, and I now understand why, it's very hard to beat!

The pieces of bone and skin and all the other bits that get chewed on and spat out are called "chankings". They were a much more common experience in dining during that time period, particularly among those that could not afford to waste food. Olive pits, sunflower seed hulls, gristle, all chankin's.

Passenger: I don't like the way the fish smells. Ship's Cook: Eighteenth century problems.

Salt AND pepper? Getting a bit fancy for olde naval rations.

0:40 Cod Drying Racks. Fantastic dual-purpose device.. On one end, it dries your fish On the other end, and for several miles downwind, it forms an impenetrable barrier of stench. Great for warding off invaders, killing vermin in the fields, and *great* motivation for dieters.

Every time he tries something, and that gentle fiddle music starts up in the background, I just get the biggest smile on my face

No wonder it was so important to have a good ship's cook.

I love videos where you talk about rations

If pirates attacked, I wonder if the sailors would beat them back by wielding stockfish as clubs. _"No! Come back & fight us for longer! We still have to pound this for hours before we can eat it."_

I was under the impression everyone was starving and sad. These guys are eating better than I do

This channel is like anti-depression medication. Long live john townsend

"Before we cook our fish we need to beat it with a hammer". *Me sitting in my living room eating take out* "Damn, for real"?

I love how there was a weekly schedule for a lot of sailor foods. Today we have Taco Tuesday, in the 18th century they had Burgoo Thursday and Stockfish Friday.

In Genoa, northern Italy, stockfish with potatoes (stoccafisso) is still a common meal, enjoyed mainly during holidays. It was imported back in medieval ages, when Genoa was a huge trade center, and used to trade with Northern Europe

Mr. Townsend, your channel is a breathe of fresh air for someone like me who wants to temporarily forget of all the negative things that's going on in today's world. Thank you.

Here in North Italy the Stockfish (called Stocafisso in italian, Baccalà in local language) is considered a delicacy today, while was a poor food in the past, expecially in the areas that were under Venice Republic in the past. I don't remember the story, but the use of dried Stockfish was imported by a guy who travelled in North Europe. Personally, i love it, both "in rosso" (with tomato) and "alla vicentina" (more creamy, without tomato). My grandmother told me and old saying about the baccalà: "it must be beaten by a mad man and seasoned by a blind one".

Stock fish is super common in nigerian cuisine! It's used to add umami flavor similar to fish or soy sauce. It's yummy on its own too.

“They would beat it with a hammer” I’m sold.

Here in Newfoundland "salt cod" was split, deboned, spread flat on "fish flakes" or rocky beaches, heavily salted, and allowed to dry. The fish was flat and the main bones had been removed, so it was much easier to work with. It was soaked overnight before preparation. For hundreds of years salt cod was the mainstay of our economy, and it is still a traditional meal enjoyed by many. One of our closest trading partners for those hundreds of years was New England. Many folks in Newfoundland still have a great affection for the "Boston states," and have family members who immigrated there. I absolutely love your show, Jason. Keep up the tremendous work!

Ship's biscuits always make me think of that "lesser of two weevils" joke in "Master and Commander."

Dried, salted codfish is very common here in Portugal, is a very typical food that dates from the maritime expeditions. We usually just let it on water from night to day and its ready to go.

The tapping of the hammer is in perfect time with the fiddle music.

I was amazed about how it looked like fresh fish after it was soaked.

😒 *What's with the leather socks in the kitchen?* 😐 *That's lunch.*

I was 7 years old. We had a family farm where me, my siblings and our parents used to spend our summer holidays. Every night, after dinner, we would sit outside of our farmhouse and my granny used to tell us the most amazing stories. We would all lay there, listening to our granny's stories; relaxed and amazed at the same time I used to feel so comfy, safe and happy, that I used look forward to going their. That was the highlight of my year. The summer holidays. My granny passed away last year. All year, we didn't get to see our granny and grandpa that much. So whatever memories I have of them are from these summer holidays.. And I dont know why, but anytime I watch one of your videos, I remember those carefree childhood days and I feel nostalgic and comfy at the same time. It almost feels like my granny is still here, and her stories too. Thank you very much for making these videos. They are very very valuable. God Bless You! :-)

As a reanactor that is always looking for new and exciting ways to prepare the meals that they would have ate in the way they had cooked them i am so glad to have found this channel and that you recommend the books you get them.

Whoa, I did not expect it to look so good after you soaked it!

Man, I remember when this channel had less than 25,000 subs. Now it's closing in one one million.

Finally a stockfish I can beat at chess.

I was surprised that the flesh gain so much volume when rehydrated. This is a great method of preservation.

Bet you wish you weren't savoring that particular aroma of the 18th century

I’m from Norway, and I love stockfish! To me, the best way to eat this is as a snack. Don’t boil or do anything with it except from beating it soft enough to chew it. Then you eat it with cold butter and beer!!!

"Yeah, captain spent all night pounding the crews stinkfish"

I think that the Stockfish would do for an absolutely amazing fish broth.

How to cook on ship: Fish? Hammer! Bread? Hammer! Potato! Hammer? Water. Hammer! Salt! Hammer! Pepper? Hammer!

How the fish meat almost returns to looking fresh when you soak em is kinda scary

This guy and this channel deserves way more recognition on KZfaq. Thank you for all that you do and you make amazing videos keep up the good work 😊

Stock fish was a special dish for me growing up. Southern Italian cooking used tomato and other herbs to create a casserole for Christmas Eve. Very special

I'm sure that someday we will see a collaboration about rations with Steve19189 . No pressure, I'll wait :)

really suprised how the flesh of the fish turned out after soaking!

The hitting with the hammers is to get out the frustration of having to eat stockfish

Growing up, this was our Swedish/American version of lutefisk. We bought salted/dried cod that you can still buy in wooden boxes and my mom would soak/rinse it for a long time then cook it in a milk gravy and pour it over smashed potatoes. No hammer needed. We still love it!

Also important to understand how it helped Vikings without them even realizing it. It was their main source of Vitamin D, due lack of UVB rays which is essential for human growth.

*Stinky, scary, savory,* send shivers down your tongue. 💀🦴💀

Reminds me of my childhood, where we got dried cod and had it soak for days just to make Lutefisk for Xmas. Only difference was that it was also lye cured.

A little butter, onions, and cream (and maybe a touch of brandy) and you'd probably be off to a pretty decent bisque (although I doubt cream would be found aboard ship). Looks yummy! 👍

I’m filipino and I love dried fish!!! Salted dried fish is so good with rice, you dip it on spicy vinegar and eat it with sweet tomato! 😉

John, a true 18th century man: "needs some nutmeg"

I always feel like I'm on an 8th grade field trip when I watch these videos. I love it.

Stockfish is the most delicious eaten raw. It's an amazing snack. My grand uncle, when he was alive, would make his own stock fish every year, that us kids would eat as a snack. Having those "freshly ripped off" pieces of stockfish is especially delicious and an experience extremely few people get to enjoy, and I haven't had that pleasure for many years now.

most important utensil in a galley back then: HAMMER

Maybe Nick's fish wasn't as well preserved....doesn't look half bad honestly. As always, thank you for the Living History. Best

I love this channel. It’s so uncomplicated and simple yet educational!

Whoever edited this video had you hammering the fish in time with the background music, and for that my inner band geek thanks them.

A touch of nutmeg, huh? Wouldn't be Townsends without nutmeg!

Stockfisk - the first norwegian gold - older than the Vikings. Still important for norwegian fish industry today. But, we do not beat the stockfish before soaking. Grilled stockfish is a real delicatesse, but most often it is beaten and eaten raw. Goes really well with beer, stockfish. In northern Norway - boiled half dried soaked stockfish is most common (Boknafisk). Luxury food. Personally I like the icelandic way. Dried salted Haddoc raw. There are simply no other snack that complements beer like dried salted Haddoc. Great channel, btw. Cheers from us who discovered America.

I want to say thank you for your videos. I truly appreciate how you explain history and how you recreate so much of what you you are explaining. I enjoy watching videos that teach. I often explain to others what I have learned from the videos, however I find very few who have any interest in history. For me, it’s even better for when I watch videos that confirm much of what I have read in books.

I have always been a great fan of your channel, and have always been satisfied with my purchases from you wonderful company. Thank you for preserving our American history.

Wait, I think you should add ... Nutmeg!!

One of the reasons they pulverized it with a hammer was so they didn’t have to debone the fish.

i absolutely LOVE how wholesome and nerdy he is.

I'm from Ukraine and we have a history of drying fish but we salt it extensively and the salt is very very much necessary for this as it makes it taste really good and no one I know would think about making it without salt because it would be bland -we call it taranka and it is essentially fish jerky and on that point it makes about as much sense to make jerkey without salting it as it does here to make the stockfish which is what the taranka is as it is air dried as well.

Just casually hammering to the beat of the tune.

Thank you for putting Norway on the map! We're proud of our fish, and while most people probably don't eat stockfish often, it's legacy is still alive and well. Perhaps the most popular variants are "Lutefisk" for Christmas, and "Bacalao", a sort of Portuguese fusion food from the Age of Sail and trading on the sea was all the rage in Europe.

love your channel however i realized a part of me is still 14, when you showed the presoaked stock fish and said " I pounded this one last night" that little part of me giggled abit, ive been wanting to try this fish forever

Dried salted fish is a delicacy here in southern China, just immerse it in cooking oil, add some ginger or leeks, cook it with steam, and serve with rice. A typical fisherman's meal.

Dried cod=bacalau a staple of Portugal, they say there is 365 recipies 1 for every day of the year.

Norway checking in! How fun to see an old school stockfish recipe. These days they even make pizzas with stockfish topping.

I really love this channel. Very professional and very well done!

Eaten dry it makes for a delicious Saturday snack that you can wash down with cold beer. It knocks the socks off any crisps, also the dried cod will put lead in your pencil and give you that overwhelming urge to go pillaging in England.

The earliest form of fish and chips Confirmed

Maybe the writer of the journal didn’t really like fish in the first place. I thought it plumped pretty nicely, and even had an almost fresh appearance. As a preservation technique it looked better than canned. As one who likes to takes freeze dried and dehydrated ingredients on camping trips that don’t require me the take along an ice chest, I think stock fish would be interesting to try. Keep the videos coming.

Any portuguese watching this is like "basically a regular tuesday lunch at my grandmas place"

They really were ingenious to have found so many ways to preserve foods for long periods of time without the use of refrigeration or even electricity.

Hello from Austria! Thank you all for the amazing things you do!

As a Norwegian , dried fish , preserved food etc is normal to me. It’s called tørrfisk. Just means dry fish . Haha love your show ! It’s a nice little snack, and my dog loves it too!

Your videos are some of the most positive media available. You should be proud of what you’ve made because I and so many people enjoy your content

Something always awesome about watching somebody do something they love and are passionate about

When it is soaked like that, then we in North Norway call it " bokna fisk" we also just pound it with a hammer and eat the fish fibers direct with lots of cold butter...

We have been eating buccala ( salted cod) for ever. It was very smelly also. My Grandma soaked it in milk to rehydrate and help with the smell.

Your show has made a smile on my face in so many dark times in my life. You guys always make beautiful history

This has been on my recommended for days, glad I watched!

I love the videos on poor/average foods best. This is particularly excellent, thank you!!

The bones are a great source of calcium and collagen, eat em up!

Your channel and Liziqi's are two of my favorite youtube channels. Thank you for your passion for history! ❤️

Loved this video like all the one's I've watch since discovering this channel a week ago. Next time stock fish comes up I'd like to see a time-lapse of that soaking water because it would be quite fascinating. But still really enjoyed this video and somehow everything you've made looks far more appetizing than I expect each time lol

Watching these videos makes me appreciate what I have in my fridge a lot more. This is what I imagined school was going to be like when I was little :( only to be pestered with paper work and teachers who were annoyed with the class. Amazing videos!

For some reason I never believe you when you say.....” hey it’s pretty good”

I use your kitchen pepper and nutmeg on a lot of dishes and it really does add something special. Thank you for the good work and amazing products.

After loving my first fish. This is my favorite episode. This channel is verry appreciated.

Hello stockfish daddy

They are really popular in Russia and former USSR, we alsways had them with beer back then

I love your channel and videos. So...nice in these trying times!

Fascinating videos, as always. Having sailed some of the seven seas in the USN, I'm am amazed at the privations that sailors (and passengers) of yore endured to travel to another country. If seas sickness, bad weather, scurvy or some accident didn't cripple or kill you, foreign pirates could (and would). Being propelled by wind meant that the ship was at the mercy of Mother Nature 24/7!-John in Texas