A dish of the typical Ligurian cuisine, Brandacujun has as its main ingredient cod, to which we have added our Pesto Fresco Genovese, to give it an extra touch of “ligurità”.
This ancient preparation turns out to be very delicate and is served either as an appetizer, on toasted bread croutons or polenta, or as an excellent main course.
Discover our version of Brandacujun in our news!
A delicate appetizer or a velvety main course: our Brandacujun with Pesto Fresco Genovese from Laboratorio Artigianale Frasca e Nassa in Loano is a perfect solution for a lunch or dinner full of the flavor of Liguria.
Let’s start with the name: Brandacujun comes from “brandare,” meaning to shake, and “cujun,” meaning dumb, silly.
In ancient times, the final step to complete this dish, since it was quite time-consuming, was entrusted to these very people.
It involved shaking the pot, with the lid on, wrapped in a cloth, until the cod combined with the potatoes completely disintegrated. We can safely say that it was not a very nice job …
Today there are other less tedious and heavy-handed methods of dealing with the ingredients of Brandacujun, although there are excellent chefs who continue to prepare it according to tradition.
Here for you is the recipe of chef Gian Luca Cellerino of Ristocaffè Il Ponte di Toirano!
Brandacujun with Fresh Pesto: ingredients for 4 people
- 1 170g jar of Fresh Pesto.
- 500gr. of soaked codfish
- 500gr. of potatoes
- Taggiasca olives
- Pine nuts
- 5 cloves of old garlic
- EVO oil
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Brandacujun with Fresh Pesto: ingredients for 4 people
- Boil the cod in plenty of unsalted water. When ready, remove from water and set aside
- In the same water, boil the peeled but whole potatoes. When they are cooked, remove them. Keep some of the water aside. You will need it later.
- In a large saucepan, heat plenty of EVO oil and all the finely chopped garlic. Let it go x 6 to 8 minutes
- Add the cod and potatoes. Whisk the ingredients together with a wooden spoon, continuing to incorporate oil until the preparation absorbs
- Adjust salt and pepper
- Serve still lukewarm in single servings or accommodated on a serving platter from which everyone can be served
- Drizzle with Pesto Fresco from Laboratorio Artigianale Frasca e Nassa di Loano, slightly diluting it with the cod cooking water
- Add olives and pine nuts in quantities to your liking
- A little chopped parsley atticates the preparation.
Our Brandacujun, made special by the addition of Pesto Fresco Genovese, is ready.
Enjoy!