Across many European countries' fishing industries in
cod fisheries, cutting off the cod tongue was how fishermen tracked their individual haul.
Icelandic, French and
Faroese crews historically kept a cod tongue box () to track the ship's catch.
Iberia In the
Basque Country, cod tongue (, , ; The first recorded recipe for cod tongues in Spain was in 1890 in an
advice column in the
woman's magazine La Moda Elegante, of the
Basque cuisine dish , served in .
Queen Maria Christina popularized the dish while living in
Miramar Palace. She was known to order
Basque cider and (cod tongue casseroles) to the palace. Cod tongues are a popular
Spanish Christmas food. Portuguese consumption of cod tongue () stems from the
long history of fishing in Portugal and increased consumption of fish during periods of
Catholic abstinence from meat. While coastal areas had fresh fish, inland regions relied on the
offal of
salted cod, including tongue,
fish maw (), and
cod liver. Cod tongues are a
delicacy of
Lisbon and are sold salted in bulk, and are served at traditional
pubs (). They are typically served fried ().
France Consumption of cod tongue in France () dates back to the late 16th century: a
Jacobin (Dominican) monastery in
Bayonne recorded eating them, During to
Greenland in the 1930s, French fishermen operating with only
salt for preservation exclusively kept the cods' tongues and cheeks for sale along with
halibut, due to the lack of demand for salted cod fillet;
refrigerated vessels kept the whole fish. Distant-water cod-fishing ports at the time included
Gravelines,
Fecamp,
Saint-Malo &
Saint-Servan,
La Rochelle, and
Bordeaux.
North Atlantic Islands Cod tongue () is a
traditional food of
Faroese cuisine.
The economy of the
Faroe Islands is dominated by fishing. On Faroese fishing vessels, fishermen are entitled to the , the leftover parts of the catch, which includes cod tongue. However, many trawlers that fillet fish on-board throw fish offal like cod tongue back into the ocean. Historically, Faroese fishing boats that caught cod on lines paid their crew according to how many fish they had each caught; no such division was possible on trawlers. The boat's owner took two-thirds of the catch; the remaining third was divided among the crew by counting the number of cod tongues or
lippur ("lips") each man had placed in the boat's
lippukassan, the cod tongue box. Initially agreements were made between each owner and the crew: for example, an 1894 contract for the
Lalla Rookh boat specifies that for the purpose of the count, four 'small' fish counted as one 'big' fish. From 1912, a single agreement held for all Faroese boats, and a 'big' cod was defined as being at least long. The practice ended when the Faroese line-fishing industry closed in 1958. Icelandic and French fishing boats of the period used similar cod tongue box systems to the Faroese; the French worked purely by the number of cod caught, not attempting to distinguish the size of the fish. Shetland boats shared most of the catch equally among the fishermen, with a bonus (between 9 and 17%) awarded on the basis of the remainder of the catch by counting the contents of the cod tongue box. In Joensen's view, the Shetland system was fairer than the Faroese system, as much of the work was not catching but shared duties like cleaning and salting the fish.
Norway Skrei tongue () is a delicacy in the fishing villages of
Northern Norway, particularly during the
Lofoten Fishery season of January to mid-April. Local youth work as tongue cutters () from as early as five years old, processing
severed heads from
stockfish production. Historically, the practice was
child labor, with money supporting the family; in modern times, hawk the tongues for personal profit. Children are often encouraged to cut tongues to promote early
financial literacy and interest in the fishing industry. Most cod tongues today are sold to markets in Spain, but other destinations include England, France, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark. == North America ==