Ling is a long, slender deep-water fish (Molva molva) of the cod family, with firm, snow-white, low-fat flesh that holds together in big meaty flakes rather than falling apart. Mild and faintly sweet, it is prized fresh for the table and, like its cousin the cod, is salted and air-dried into a keeping fish — the lutefisk and "lange" of northern Europe and a backbone of the Iberian salt-fish trade.