Campfire Griddle Antiguan Johnnycakes with Fresh Tomato, Saltfish and Farm Eggs

The night before, cover the salt cod with cold water and soak in a cooler or refrigerator, changing the water twice. This is the one step you cannot rush — unsoaked saltfish will overwhelm everything.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 3/4 cup whole milk, plus more as needed
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, for the griddle
• 6 ounces salt cod, soaked overnight and flaked (saltfish)
• 2 ripe farmers-market tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1 sweet pepper, diced
• 2 scallions, sliced
• 4 large eggs

Instructions

1. The night before, cover the salt cod with cold water and soak in a cooler or refrigerator, changing the water twice. This is the one step you cannot rush — unsoaked saltfish will overwhelm everything.
2. At camp, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse meal with a few pea-sized pieces still visible.
3. Pour in the milk and stir with a fork just until a shaggy dough forms. Knead it against the side of the bowl five or six times, no more — johnnycakes turn tough the moment you overwork them. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes while the fire settles.
4. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and flatten each into a disc about half an inch thick.
5. Set a cast-iron griddle or skillet on a grate over medium coals — you want steady heat, not roaring flame, so the insides cook through before the outsides scorch. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil.
6. Griddle the cakes for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until deep golden and puffed, with a hollow sound when tapped. Move them to the cooler edge of the grate to stay warm.
7. Add the remaining oil to the pan and cook the onion and sweet pepper for 3 minutes. Add the flaked saltfish and tomatoes and cook 4 minutes more, until the tomatoes slump and their juice reduces to a glaze. Stir in the scallions.
8. Push the mixture aside and fry the eggs in the same pan until the whites set. Split the warm johnnycakes, pile the saltfish and tomato inside, and top each with an egg.
9. Johnnycakes travel through the whole Caribbean under different names and forms — fried dumplings in Jamaica, bakes in Trinidad, festival in Montego Bay — and in Antigua they are the standard vehicle for saltfish at breakfast. The name most likely comes from journey cake, a bread made to survive travel without refrigeration, which is exactly why it belongs at a campsite. Cured cod arrived through colonial trade routes and stayed because it kept indefinitely in a hot climate, long before iceboxes. Late-August tomatoes at their ripest do the real work here, cutting the salt with sweetness and acid in a way canned ones never manage.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 512 kcal
• Protein: 29g
• Fat: 22g
• Carbohydrates: 51g
• Fiber: 3g
• Sugar: 6g
• Sodium: 1240mg