Cod Portuguese

Baked or Portuguese cod .

When we talk about cod it is inevitable to look away towards recipes with fish and seafood from the neighboring country, Portugal.

Being how they are experts in treating and cooking this fish. Mainly salted, it is worth getting a little deeper into its culture and trying to prepare at home any of its more traditional recipes with this fish.

Today we have prepared Portuguese cod or bacalhau à Margarida da Praça, baked with potatoes. A typical and traditional recipe from the north of the country, from the Miño river area, which, despite its simplicity, is a category dish.

It consists of cooking the cod in the oven , previously desalted and lightly browned. Accompanied in its cooking, with simple and succulent potatoes and onions.

The result is simply perfect, a very tasty, complete and healthy dish. That we can always complete by accompanying it with some black olives, so appreciated in Portuguese cuisine.

This Portuguese recipe has different preparations and nuances depending on the area of ​​Portugal in which we are located. So I will show you the recipe that I have tasted in my gastronomic trips to the neighboring country, specifically to the north (between Porto and Galicia). In addition to the quality of the main ingredient, cod, we will get a delicious dish.

The flavor and nutritional virtues of cod, originating in the northern seas, justify its use today. This Portuguese-style cod attests to this, a simple, easy-to-make baked dish. A recipe similar to baked cod that you will also find on the blog.

I encourage you to get down to work with this cod recipe, it is very easy to prepare and guarantees the success of your table, you will tell me.

How to desalt the cod. Before starting to cook

You can use salted cod, but if you do not have (or do not want) time, I recommend buying a piece of loin that has already been desalted (they are a little more expensive and they already sell that way).

1. If we choose the option of a salted cod fillet, we must desalinate it. To do this we must first cut it if it is very large.
2. To desalt the cod, the piece of fish must be covered in plenty of water.
3. The thick parts will desalt for 48 hours, with water change approximately every 6 hours. The finer parts will desalinate for 36 hours, with a water change every 8 hours.
4. While the fish is desalting it should remain at a temperature between 6 and 8 º C in the refrigerator, since at room temperature it can ferment.
5. If it happens to you, you will notice right away, it has happened to me before, the smell is … well, I don’t need to describe it. Inside the fridge we avoid temperature variations, which would accelerate or delay desalination, especially in summer.

Preparation of baked cod with potatoes

1. Peel the onion and cut it into julienne strips. We heat 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet and add the onion when it starts to become hot.
2. We fry the onion until it is very soft, about 15 or 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the sweet paprika from La Vera.
3. We remove to integrate with the onion and we put the pan on the fire again.
4. Add the wine, let it reduce for 2 minutes and remove. We reserve the onion and its sauce for a platter. We will reuse the pan later so we do not remove it since we will take advantage of the juices.
5. Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin sheets, 3 or 4 mm. thick.
6. We heat abundant oil in the pan that we have used before and fry the potatoes leaving them a little raw. The potatoes will then finish cooking in the oven. We reserve.
7. We remove excess oil and fry the previously floured cod loins.
8. It is not necessary to fry them too much, by giving them a touch for 1 or 2 minutes on each side is enough, so we make sure that during the baking it is in its point, juicy and tasty.

Baking and final presentation of the cod

1. We preheat the oven to 200º C.
2. In a dish suitable for the oven we are mounting the plate. First we put a base with the potatoes, on top we put the cod loins and distribute the onion on top and on the sides with all its sauce.
3. Bake at 170º C with heat above and below, for 15 or 20 minutes in the central part of the oven.
4. Remove from the oven and serve hot.

You can see all the step by step photos of this baked cod recipe in this album. Do not miss any detail so that it comes out perfect. Do not say that between the recipe, the video and the photos you will not get yummy.

Tips for a Portuguese style squid cod

• In Portugal it is known as bacalhau à Margarida da Praça  although you will also find other names for this recipe such as   bacalhau à Narcisa or bacalhau Minho.
• This dish is traditional from Portugal, especially from the northern third of the country. The star recipe of the country with which we share the most border, a rich and simple dish, but very tasty. That is why the Portuguese are the kings of cod and you too can be by following this recipe step by step.
• For this dish you only need to enjoy it, a good piece of bread to accompany and a glass of wine of the one that we like the most.
• It is a complete and very tasty dish that you will surely repeat. Perfect to prepare throughout the year and on these dates of Easter, a mouthful of yummy.