Cod Loin Poached in Early-Harvest Olive Oil — on Black Beans with Confit Garlic & Lemon, White Asparagus
It is the 3rd of September in Andalucía, 41°C, and this confit garlic recipe is the right answer to an evening that is still too hot for a long kitchen session.
The internal patio has shade by early evening, which is when this gets eaten — on the ornate cast iron table, in the kind of stillness that only arrives when the heat finally stops feeling like a threat. It feels, with eyes half closed, like eating in a Moroccan riad courtyard. It is not. It is Monte Lope Álvarez, Jaén. But the feeling holds.
This is not a dish for a long kitchen session. It is a confit garlic recipe built around a technique that does most of the work while you stay out of the heat — and the best confit garlic recipe starts with the right oil. The garlic goes in first — five cloves, lemon peel, early-harvest Montetucci oil — low and slow until the garlic yields completely. Then the cod goes in, basted at 60°C until just set. The infused oil does everything: confit base, poaching medium, dressing for the beans.
The black beans are the first tin from a case of twelve Eat Wholesome Organic that arrived this morning. The white asparagus comes from the fridge. The cod is Icelandic, from Bacalao in Barcelona — a specialist supplier whose stock lives in my freezer for exactly this kind of evening. The remoulade alongside is Nearly K-Salat — a homemade Danish remoulade that turned out to be the right call.
Confit Garlic Recipe — The Technique That Drives the Dish
Confit is the French term for cooking slowly in fat. Garlic confit — whole cloves, submerged in olive oil over the lowest heat you can manage — transforms the raw sharpness of garlic into something sweet, yielding, and deeply savoury. The oil absorbs both the garlic and the lemon peel as they cook, becoming something considerably more complex than it started as.
That infused oil is the point. It poaches the cod gently enough to keep the flesh tender and just set. It warms the black beans without cooking them further. It finishes the white asparagus at room temperature with nothing more than a drizzle and a squeeze of lemon. One confit, three uses. The lemon peel, golden and amber from the oil, goes on top of the cod as the garnish — the same peel that perfumed everything throughout the cook.
Cod Loin Recipes UK — Why Icelandic Cod
Cod loin is the thickest, most consistent cut — no thin tail, no uneven cooking. Mine comes frozen from Bacalao in Barcelona, a specialist in Icelandic cod. For a full guide to buying and cooking cod, BBC Good Food's guide to cod is a useful reference. It goes straight from the freezer into the fridge the night before and is fully defrosted by morning.
Poaching at 60°C rather than a rolling boil keeps the proteins from seizing. The flesh stays pearlescent rather than chalky, and it holds together on the plate rather than flaking apart before it gets there.
The White Asparagus
Tinned white asparagus, drained and served at room temperature alongside — a few spears, nothing more. A drizzle of the infused oil and a squeeze of lemon. In September in Andalucía, white asparagus from a tin is not a compromise. It is what's available, and it works.
The Remoulade
Nearly K-Salat — a homemade Danish remoulade built on wholegrain mustard, capers, cornichons, red onion, spring onion and ACV — was made the same evening and turned out to be exactly what this dish needed. The acidity cuts through the richness of the olive oil poaching. The wholegrain mustard adds warmth without sharpness. It belongs on the plate.
Ingredients
(Serves 1)
Confit
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled
- Peel of 1 lemon
- Generous pour of early-harvest extra virgin olive oil (Montetucci) — enough to submerge the garlic and baste the cod
Cod
- 250g cod loin, defrosted overnight in the fridge
Black beans
- 1 tin Eat Wholesome Organic black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp confit-infused oil
- Small handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- Squeeze of lemon
- Pinch of pimentón
- Salt and black pepper
White asparagus
- A few spears, drained if tinned
- Drizzle of confit-infused oil
- Squeeze of lemon
Alongside
Method
Confit the garlic:
Place the garlic cloves and lemon peel in a small saucepan. Cover generously with Montetucci early-harvest olive oil. Cook over the lowest heat you can manage for 30–40 minutes until the garlic is completely soft and yielding. The oil should barely shimmer — not bubble. Remove the garlic and lemon peel and set aside. Reserve the oil.
Poach the cod:
Place the cod loin in the same infused oil over a low heat. Baste continuously, maintaining the oil at around 60°C. Cook for 10–12 minutes until the flesh is just set and opaque throughout but still pearlescent at the centre. Remove carefully and rest for 2 minutes.
Warm the black beans:
In a small pan, warm the drained black beans over a low heat with a tablespoon of the infused oil. Add the flat leaf parsley, a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of pimentón, salt and black pepper. Stir gently — you want them warm, not collapsing.
Plate:
Spoon the black beans onto a wide white plate. Rest the cod loin on top. Lay the confit lemon peel on the cod as a garnish. Arrange the white asparagus alongside with a spoonful of Nearly K-Salat remoulade. Finish with a drizzle of infused oil and a final squeeze of lemon over everything.
Eat in the shade.
Chef's Notes
The oil temperature is everything. Too hot and the cod firms up and flakes apart. At 60°C it stays just set — tender, pearlescent, holding its shape on the plate.
The confit garlic cloves can be served alongside or stirred into the beans. They are sweet enough to eat whole.
Early-harvest olive oil has a lower acidity and a fresher, more peppery flavour than standard extra virgin. Montetucci is pressed from olives harvested before full ripeness at the mill in Monte Lope Álvarez — the village. It is the right oil for this confit garlic recipe and not easily substituted.
The black beans are the first tin from a case of Eat Wholesome Organic that arrived this morning — precooked, no salt added, in water. They need nothing except warming through and a little seasoning.
The confit lemon peel is not a garnish as an afterthought — it's the same peel that perfumed the oil throughout the cook. It goes on top because it belongs there. Nothing is wasted.
This confit garlic recipe is featured in my Fish & Seafood Recipes hub, in the White Fish section.
It also features in my Black Bean Recipes collection — tinned and fermented, British-Caribbean and East Asian, breakfast and dinner.
It also features in my Gut Health Recipes hub — real food from a rural Andalucían kitchen, built around fermented foods, high-fibre pulses, wholegrains and prebiotic-rich ingredients.
Find more recipes and food adventures here.
Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef
