Cod or Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá. Portuguese recipe

How to make Portuguese-style cod . One of the countries with the longest tradition in the preparation of cod recipes is, without a doubt, Portugal. They rightly presume to have at least one preparation for each day of the year in their recipes.

In yummy recipes we are in love with Portugal and its cuisine, the success of Portuguese cuisine is seen in the visits that come to the blog of recipes such as golden cod , the traditional  Pão de Ló or   Belem cakes . Within this infinity of options to prepare cod, this Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá stands out , which owes its name to its inventor, a merchant and cook who lived in Porto between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th: José Luis Gomes de Sá.

José Luis was a cook at the Lisbonense restaurant in Porto, and there he created this recipe based on cod in flakes marinated in milk, baked with potatoes and onion and culminated with boiled egg, black olives and parsley. It soon became a very typical dish from all over northern Portugal with such success that it came to be proposed as one of the 7 Wonders of Portuguese Gastronomy. He was a finalist in the “peixe” category, which finally won another Lusitanian delicacy: the roasted sardine .

This is a very simple and economical preparation of cod because, when presented crumbled, it allows us to choose those pieces of cod with the worst shape and therefore with the best price at the time of purchase. It is enough that we make sure that the product is of the highest quality, which will be noticeable in the final result, and that we properly discourage the pieces before starting to cook. If we are not far-sighted enough, we can buy desalted loins in most large stores and in specialized stores. I hope you dare with this classic of Portuguese cuisine, surely you will do it again and again, you will tell me.

Preparation of cod a la Gomes de Sá

We can desalt the cod as I explain in other recipes although I advise you to buy a taco of cod loin already desalted.

1. We put a pot on the fire with enough water to cover the cod completely. When it boils add the piece of fish and, when it boils again, turn off the heat, cover and let it rest for five minutes. If the piece of cod is very thick we can leave it a little more.
2. We remove the cod from the water. We remove the skin and the thorns and crumble it into flakes. We place it in a deep plate and cover it with the milk, which we will have heated without reaching a boil, at around 70ºC. We will leave the fish to marinate in the milk for an hour and a half.
3. The next step will be to cook the eggs. We cover a small saucepan or casserole with cold water and cook them 10 minutes from the boil. We should not cook them any longer since a dark greenish halo forms around the yolk that is unpleasant to the eye. With these indications you have to be perfect. We reserve.
4. While the cod is marinating, we wash the potatoes very well and cook them with peel. For this we place them in a saucepan with water and a little salt. When it boils we lower the heat and leave them for ten minutes or until we notice that they are cooked by nailing a knife into one of them. When they are cooked, drain them.
5. When the temperature allows, peel the potatoes and reserve.
6. In a frying pan with plenty of extra virgin olive oil, brown the julienned onions and the minced garlic over medium heat, stirring frequently to cook evenly (about six minutes). Meanwhile we preheat the oven to 180º C with grill function -if we have it-.
7. When they begin to brown turn off the heat and with a slotted spoon remove the onion and garlic from the oil.
8. In a large baking dish, place the potatoes cut into slices that are one centimeter thick. On them we pour the oil from browning the onions distributed so that all the potatoes are wet. On the potatoes we place the cod well distributed without worrying about draining it.
9. Finally we distribute the onion evenly over the cod. We finish the composition with salt and freshly ground pepper.
10. We place the source in the oven (180º C) and leave it for ten minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish with boiled egg slices, black olives and plenty of chopped fresh parsley. We serve very hot.

This cod can serve perfectly as a single dish at dinner or as a main dish at a meal preceded by some simple starters. It is important that we do not let it cool when bringing it to the table; it must be served very hot. Take advantage!

Be sure to enjoy all the recipes for fish and seafood that we have on the blog, I assure you that you will find a lot of ideas to make yours much happier.