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I saw haddock on sale at our local grocer. It's really cheap this week. It grew my curiosity.

Are there any similarities in flavor between haddock and cod?

I often see haddock and cod interchangeably used in the context of fish and chips.

Rodrigo de Azevedo
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chrisjlee
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    I always though that haddock was a smaller version of cod. Still, even though "Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World" is one of my favourite books, I am not sure enough about it to present this as an actual answer. – Doug Aug 05 '11 at 19:09
  • Interesting. I'll take a look at that book though. Thanks for the recommendation. – chrisjlee Aug 05 '11 at 19:23
  • And I still haven't located 'Finnan Haddies', haddock in a can which my gran used to use to make her chowder. She was born in Simcoe county in Ontario – Doug Aug 06 '11 at 06:09

2 Answers2

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Haddock and Cod are two quite different fish. However, they can be used interchangeably in many fish recipes. So if you want to substitute one for the other you can easily do so. When cooked, many people can't easily tell them apart. Even large food producers and supermarkets get them mixed up.

...Three of the 59 samples purchased from Asda failed to contain the right fish. Its cod fishcakes actually contained haddock whilst a haddock pie and a haddock fillet were made using Atlantic cod.

At Waitrose two out of 28 samples tested were mislabelled. One of them, a mini smoked haddock pie offering ‘flaked North Atlantic haddock’, actually contained cheap Pacific cod.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1380164/Mislabelled-fish-products-Asda-Tesco-Sainsburys-Morrisons-Waitrose-Lidl.html#ixzz1UCukDoa2

The main points where they may be treated differently are in long term storage. Haddock is not usually salted where as cod is. Haddock can easily be dried or smoked.

Rincewind42
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Having been born and raised in Hull, the UK's biggest long-distance trawler port in the good old days, I think most people like me grew a preference for the taste of haddock Both cod and haddock are great eats when fresh and have always been staple fish for the professional fryers. But haddock definitely has a more defining flavour. Their textures are different too; cod has a fuller flake with more of a "wet" look, while haddock has a finer flake and slightly more drier look. Useful to know if you're buying packaged frozen stuff from a major supermarket. Unfortunately today, you are more likely to get the best quality to find out for yourself by going to a good wet-fish shop or a "British Chippy" like we have here in Calgary, Alberta.

David from Yorkshire
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  • Totally agree, haddock and Cod taste nothing alike and I would always choose haddock over cod for fish and chips. Actually I'd choose haddock over cod for any application, it just so much more delicious. – Spagirl Nov 05 '18 at 18:04