Saint Columba’s Salmon

Poached salmon with an herb sauce

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City/Region: Iona | Scotland

Time Period: 6th Century | 15th Century

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After some literary shenanigans, Saint Columba fled Ireland in the 6th century and settled on Iona, an island off the coast of Scotland. He established an abbey there and went about the business of performing miracles and prophesying the deaths of people and animals alike.

Seafood would have been a mainstay for Saint Columba, and this salmon dish is made up of recipes from later on in the Middle Ages. All of the ingredients would have been available in Columba’s time on Iona, the only imports being pepper and wine.

The fish flakes nicely and has a touch of the wine flavor, but the sauce is the dominant flavor here. It’s very herb-forward, which makes it fresh and light with a bit of acidity from the vinegar that cuts through the fattiness of the fish and brightens the whole dish. This is something that I would be very happy to make for dinner today.

“If you want to simmer salmon, add wine and parsley, and it will be good.”

— Registrum Coquinae, c. 1430

“For verde sawce
Take parsley, thyme an ounce, and grind,
Take white bread grated by kind
Mix all up with vinegar or wine,
Season it with powder of pepper fine.”

— Liber Cure Cocorum, c. 1430

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Ingredients:

Salmon

• 1 750 ml bottle of white wine, I used a riesling
• 2 pounds (1 kg) wild caught salmon
• A handful of torn parsley leaves
• Water
• Salt and pepper

Sauce

• A large handful of flat leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
• 1 slice of bread with no crust
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• A few splashes of white wine vinegar

Instructions:

1. For the salmon: Reserve 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the wine for the sauce and pour the rest into a large pot. Add the parsley and then enough water so that the liquid will cover the salmon.
2. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat and let the temperature drop to about 175°F (80°C). A candy thermometer is helpful for this. Add the salmon to the pot and let it cook undisturbed for 10 minutes.
3. For the sauce: Chop the parsley as finely as possible. Grind the parsley and thyme in a mortar and pestle until it becomes a paste.
4. Soak the bread in the vinegar, and add a bit to the herbs. You’re not going to need much bread. Grind the bread with the herbs until it’s nice and smooth, then transfer it to a bowl and add in the 1/2 cup of reserved wine to make a sauce. Add the pepper and set it aside. If you want a thicker sauce, you can grind up more of the bread and add it in.
5. To serve: After 10 minutes, take the salmon out of the poaching liquid and let it cool. You can eat it warm, but Saint Columba probably would have eaten it at room temperature or even cold. Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper, pour the sauce over the fish, and serve it forth.

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