A Fish Story

     Take a look at the menu at virtually any coastal New England restaurant and no doubt you will find scrod.  But what it actually is has remained the subject of discussion and debate for over two hundred years.  And there are even serious differences as to what the term itself means.

     Most agree that is in reality an acronym and not a specific kind of fish, describing any number of whitefish that could appear on your plate, sort of a catch all (no pun intended) for the catch of the day.  So in advance of knowing what the local fishmonger might deliver, the restaurant would have scrod listed to cover their bases.  But there again, opinions vary as to what S.C.R.O.D. stands for.  Here are some of the possibilities:

Seaman's Catch Received on Deck

Small Cod Remaining on Dock

Select Catch Received on the Day

Special Catch Recorded on Day

 

   Others insist that the term originates from the Dutch word schroot, meaning "to cut off," or perhaps schrod, "to fillet."  Still another possible translation comes from the Cornish dialect referring to scrawed, a method of cooking fish where it is split, deboned then salted and dried for a day before being roasted in a hot pan with butter.

 

     So whether it is cod, haddock or some other whitefish, it is generally agreed upon that it is a small fish that has been splayed and filleted before cooking.  The end result is the same in any event.  It makes a delicious meal for those who like seafood.