In Portugal, cod preparations are very popular. Same happens in Spain, Italy and southern France. The reason lies in the papal dispensation granted to this fish during the Middle Ages so that it could be consumed during Lent, something that was forbidden for all types of meat and fish to date. That caused a real fever to be unleashed by the capture and trade of cod that took Portuguese and Basque fishermen to the island of Newfoundland, in present-day Canada, where they founded factories to salt the fish and take it to Europe at the end of the fishing campaign. This is the reason why Canada, finally colonized by French and English, is plagued by Portuguese and Basque toponymics. For example, the Labrador peninsula is named on behalf the Portuguese navigator and explorer Joao Fernandes Lavrador, although in reality that name was given by himself to Greenland and not to the territory that was finally named in such a way by one of those strange mistakes of the History.
In Portugal therefore are countless recipes that have cod as the main star. This one that concerns us is very popular both in Portugal. It is not as traditional as other Portuguese preparations since its history can be traced to the population of Elvas, in the Alentejo, and to one Senhor Braz who seems to be invented the recipe in the not too distant past. In fact in Elvas it is found interchangeably as Bacalhau Dourado and as Bacalhau Braz.
It is an easy recipe to make and very curious, since it looks like an omelet without becoming one.
INGREDIENTS (4 people):
300 grams (10 oz) of cod in crumbs
3 or 4 medium potatoes
4 eggs
Salt
Sunflower oil (canola or corn oil can also be used)
Optional: onion, garlic, black olives, chopped parsley
First of all the day before we must soak the cod to desalinate it, changing the water at least twice. This is common in any preparation with salted cod. What is not so usual is what follows: with a mandolin (there is no other, if you do not have one you should buy or borrow one) we cut straw potatoes and also soak them another 24 hours, naturally in a separate container. The potatoes have no salt but they have starch and the less they have more crispy they will be. The 24 hours for such thin potatoes is an exaggeration, but it is done to match the cod soak times.
After 24 hours we drain the cod and potatoes well. It is important that both are very dry, so we will place them on absorbent paper towels. If the cod crumbs are large we crumble them even more.
First we will fry the cod in a generous stream of oil. This preparation does not use olive oil, as a rule. In some recipes, an onion cut in julienne and even a clove of chopped garlic is added, but I don't usually put them on. It goes to taste.
Keep the cod for a few minutes and remove from heat.
In a pan with plenty of sunflower oil, we fry the potatoes until they are crispy and golden brown. Remove from heat and drain excess, placing them on absorbent paper if necessary.
We beat the eggs.
We put the pan with the cod on fire and pour the chips on top. We stir well. Immediately we incorporate the beaten eggs and a pinch of salt (careful because the cod, although desalted, is still strong). With a wooden spoon we mix all the ingredients until the egg begins to set but not quite, since it must be relatively liquid.
Remove from heat and if we want we garnish with black olives and sprinkled parsley.
It is so easy to make and it is so tasty that you will repeat the recipe again and again.