Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
by Mark Kurlansky
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mark KurlanskyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-07-01
ISBN: 0140275010
Number of pages: 294
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780140275018
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
Book Review: Intriguing look at the the history and influence of cod
Summary: 5 Stars
_Cod_ by Mark Kurlansky is an intriguing look at the influence on history of the cod and the history and future of the cod fishery.
The Atlantic cod, _Gadus morhua_, had been fished as far back as the Middle Ages by the Vikings, who were the first to cure cod, preserving them by hanging the fish in the winter air until the fish lost four-fifths of its weight and "became a durable woodlike plank," which could be broken apart and eaten like hardtack (without which the epic Viking voyages to Iceland, Greenland, and the New World would not have been possible). Medieval Basque fishermen had salt (which the Vikings lacked), and were able to salt their cod before drying it, making it last much longer (aided by the fact that cod is close to fat-free) and producing a vital trade good for a truly international market, aided by the Catholic Church, which declared Fridays, the forty days of Lent, and various other religious holidays as "lean days," forbidding worshippers to eat most animal flesh other than fish. Basque fishermen ranged so far and wide in search of cod that they discovered the New World before Columbus and were encountered in large numbers in North American waters by such early explorers as Jacques Cartier.
The cod is "the perfect commercial fish;" it thrives in cold waters, will eat just about anything (including young cod), and is found in huge schools in shallow waters and close to shore. Its flesh, prized for its whiteness, has very high protein content (18%) and when dried becomes even more concentrated (almost 80%).
There is little to waste on a cod. The throat (called a tongue) and small disks of flesh to either side (referred to as cheeks) are very flavorful. The air bladder (commercially called a sound) has been rendered into isinglass, which was used to make some glues and clarifying agents (though in the past was often eaten fried or in chowders). Roe is eaten, as is the female gonads, a two-pronged organ called the britches. Icelanders and Scottish Highlanders made sausage-like concoctions out of cod stomachs. Tripe is eaten in the Mediterranean. The skin is either eaten or cured as leather. The British were "great cod-liver oil enthusiasts," using it as a remedy for many ailments. The remaining organs and bones were used as fertilizer (though until the 20th century Icelanders softened the bones in sour milk and ate them too). By the way a number of historic cod recipes are included.
Codfish include ten families with more than 200 species, nearly all of which live in cold salt water in the Northern Hemisphere, though there is one tropical species (the tiny bregmaceros, of no commercial importance), one South Atlantic species, and one freshwater type, the burbot (enjoyed by lake fishermen). To the commercial fishermen, there are but five kinds of gadiform fish, the Atlantic cod, haddock, pollock, whiting, and hake (and increasingly a sixth form, the Pacific cod). The Atlantic cod is the largest, has the whitest meat, and is generally but not always the most highly prized (Icelanders prefer haddock, as do Nova Scotians and those in northern England and Scotland). Cod though "is the prize," in demand for centuries as a cheap, long-lasting source of nutrition and now as an increasingly expensive delicacy.
The Pilgrims settled was then called North Virgina, hoping to make a profit from the cod fishery. Cod shaped the economies of both Newfoundland and New England, though quite differently. The Newfoundland economy was built around Europeans arriving, catching cod for a few months, and then taking the fish back to Europe, but New England, with its ice-free harbors, longer growing season, and arable land attracted far more settlers. Additionally, cod spawned off the coast of southern New England in the height of winter while in the summer in Newfoundland (which would conflict with any Newfoundland farming season). Cod built Boston, as it was a product Europe and European colonies wanted and something that gave the population money to spend on European goods. Eventually Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, lacking internal markets or population, became fishing outposts serviced by and servicing Boston. Salt cod merchants of New England saw a huge market in the Caribbean for their wares, as food for slaves on sugar plantations, enabling the sugar industry to thrive and further enriching New Englanders. So rich did this trade make the colonies that England worried they would no longer need the mother country and sought to reassert control starting with the Molasses Act in 1733 and eventually the hated Stamp Act, one of several things that lead to the American Revolution. One of the seeds for another war was sown thanks to disagreements among American delegates following the war, as Southerners complained that the interests of nine states were being sacrificed by the demands of fishing rights to British waters by the other four, creating one of the first North-South splits in the U.S.
The cod stood little chance against an ever improving fishing industry. Kurlansky covered the evolution of cod fishing, showing how each new innovation -long lining, gill nets, the otter trawl, the steam engine, innovations in freezing food, the advent of the factory ship - allowed for ever larger catches of cod to be landed and sold but also in the end doomed the fishery. Not only were too many fish caught, some of the new methods were quite destructive, as some of the huge trawl nets devastated the seafloor, leaving behind deserts, bereft of cover or animal life.
Many early attempts at conservation failed. Mesh size was tried, but once a net became filled with enough fish, few fish of any size can escape. Quotas were issued, eventually for individual ships, but that was of no help as fishermen would radio the shore to find what the fish were worth and if the market price was too low, would dump the fish - all already dead - and save their quota for another day.
Summary of Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
A delightful romp through history with all its economic forces laid bare, Cod is the biography of a single species of fish, but it may as well be a world history with this humble fish as its recurring main character. Cod, it turns out, is the reason Europeans set sail across the Atlantic, and it is the only reason they could. What did the Vikings eat in icy Greenland and on the five expeditions to America recorded in the Icelandic sagas? Cod--frozen and dried in the frosty air, then broken into pieces and eaten like hardtack. What was the staple of the medieval diet? Cod again, sold salted by the Basques, an enigmatic people with a mysterious, unlimited supply of cod. As we make our way through the centuries of cod history, we also find a delicious legacy of recipes, and the tragic story of environmental failure, of depleted fishing stocks where once their numbers were te fate of the universe. Here--for scientist and layperson alike, for philosopher, science-fiction reader, biologist, and computer expert--is a startlingly complete and rational synthesis of disciplines, and a new, optimistic message about existence.You probably enjoy eating codfish, but reading about them? Mark Kurlansky has written a fabulous book--well worth your time--about a fish that probably has mattered more in human history than any other. The cod helped inspire the discovery and exploration of North America. It had a profound impact upon the economic development of New England and eastern Canada from the earliest times. Today, however, overfishing is a constant threat. Kurlansky sprinkles his well-written and occasionally humorous history with interesting asides on the possible origin of the word codpiece and dozens of fish recipes. Sometimes a book on an offbeat or neglected subject really makes the grade. This is one of them.
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