Fish and brewis

Fish and brewis with scrunchions

Fish and brewis (pronounced like the word "bruise") is a traditional Newfoundland meal consisting of codfish and hard bread or hard tack. With the abundance of cod around the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador it became synonymous with many Newfoundland households as a delicacy to be served as a main meal.

The recipe may vary from community to community or even household to household but, the ingredients were always the same. The typical recipe called for salt fish that had to be soaked in water overnight to reduce the salt content of the fish. The hard bread was broken into bite-size pieces and it too was soaked in water overnight. Next day the fish and hard bread are boiled separately until tender then both are served together.

The traditional meal is served with scrunchions , salted pork fat which has been cut into small pieces and fried. Both the rendered fat and the liquid fat is then drizzled over the fish and hard bread.

Fisherman's brewis is the same as fish and brewis, but the fish and bread are chopped while hot and mixed together with the scrunchions, and often fresh cod is used instead of salt cod.

Drawn Butter was sometimes used instead of scrunchions. Drawn butter was a mixture of melted butter and chopped onions that was thickened by flour in a saucepan then served hot over the fish and hard bread.

In some Nova Scotia households, this dish is known as "Salt cod and pork scraps" where the mixture can also be served on a plate next to a mound of plain boiled potatoes and carrots.

History

The meal was originally developed by sailors that were often at sea for weeks and even months where few fresh ingredients were able to withstand such lengthy trips. Therefore long lasting foods were a necessity and fish and brewis became the crew's favorite. The idea that sailors called the hardtack or sea biscuit brewis (pronounced 'brews') because of their practice of bruising or breaking up the bread into bite size pieces is likely part of a contemporary legend, and it has been argued more convincingly that the word "brewis" dates back to Middle English.