watso - you write in a very amusing style - I couldn't help smiling.
I got to know smoked cod in the days when I was a chickie babe (we all become old boilers in the end) and working as an au pair originally in England, eventually I finished up working in the dining rooms of a large hospital. There the cod was served fairly dry - can't remember the heating method - but it gleamed almost yellow. It was a breakfast choice - of course the over-scrambled dry eggs was something I never liked, but I did like the cod.
During my childhood (Austria) there existed a chain of fish shops called 'Nordsee' which actually did a bit of fish'n chipping and the fish of choice was north sea cod. It was delicious - I remember craving it the odd time my Mum bought ready-made food (usually a no-no) . The flavour was amazing - but it was the continental flour/egg/breadcrumb way of coating the fish before deep-frying, which kept the flavours in.
I few months ago I discovered that Coles' fish department had North-Rankin cod for sale - and I bought a bit ($50/kg) and 'yesss' it was the same taste I remembered - absolutely wonderful.
Seems the North Seas were crawling with cod during the times the Vikings harrassed the English, they have become a bit of a speciality now.
