Processing and markets

Cod is processed in a variety of ways; the largest part is salted and sold as quality food to southern Europe. Roughly equal proportion is iced at sea as processed and frozen after landing. A large but declining quantity is processed and frozen at sea, whereas an increasing proportion is exported fresh by air or in containers. The main export markets are the United Kingdom and Spain. These two countries have nearly always been among the top markets for cod products from Iceland. Other western and southern European markets have also been important for cod. A large market also exists for dried cod in Nigeria and historically also in Italy. Formerly, a large portion of the frozen cod products were exported to the United States, but this market has declined in importance lately.

The cod can be cooked in a variety of ways. The fresh fish is boiled or fried and in Iceland it is commonly eaten with butter and potatoes. This is also a popular ingredient in fish and chips. The salted fish is either boiled directly as commonly done in Iceland, or watered (so that water is reabsorbed) and then cooked as done in southern Europe. The dried fish is either eaten directly as a popular snack in Iceland or watered and then cooked as in Nigeria. Icelanders also have a way to semi-dry it and then boil it.

What is described above is only skimming the surface regarding ways to process and eat cod. However, a large section of the pages on products are in fact devoted to cod products.

Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson, University of Akureyri