Bacalhoada do Christiano (Christiano's Bacalhoada)

Easter and the onset of spring means only one thing in Brazil...eating Salt Cod! The practice of salting and drying cod has been around for 500 years and is said to have been discovered by the Vikings, who used the method to preserve fish on long sea voyages. Salt Cod can be found all over the globe: from Norway, Africa to South America! In Portugal, you’ll find Salt Cod on pretty much every restaurant menu as an appetiser or a main dish, and during Easter, it's even more popular! According to Catholic traditions, meats such as beef, pork and lamb are forbidden during Lent so more people turn to eating fish as an alternative.

An all-time Portuguese and Brazilian favourite Easter Salt Cod recipe is Bacalhoada - scrumptious cod roasted with plenty of veg! Scroll down to make it with us!

by Daniela Paiva

(Salt Cod, 8 people)

There are many ways of desalting salted cod (which can be bought at the store), the long method involves soaking the cod in water between 12 to 36 hours (depending on the size and fillet) and changing the water 3-4 times along the way. Usually 24 hours will do the trick. You can also use more salt and boiling water to make the process quicker (you can find quantities and processes online easily). There is another interesting variant on desalting. Some people prefer desalting in milk, or even cooking it, which can help the fish to retain moisture and become more tender. In the end, it’s all about preference and what works well for you.

You'll need:

1,5kg desalted cod steaks
1kg potatoes
1 spring green or cabbage
1 leek
500g or 4 large onions
1 large red pepper
1 green pepper
4 cooked eggs
16 black olives
Parsley
Olive oil

1. Boil water. When the water is boiled, turn the hob off and add the cod. Let it rest for 5 minutes.

2. With a skillet, take out the cod carefully and let it rest in a board. Do not discard the water. Carefully remove the bones and skins, keeping the steaks as whole as possible.

3. Put the cleaned cod in a tray, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and reserve.

4. Warm the water that you cooked the cod in, add the bones and skins, and let it boil for about 15 minutes.

5. Pass the water through a sieve.

6. Cut the onion in 0.5 cm slices and fry in olive oil quickly (be careful not to burn) until translucent. Add a little salt and reserve.

7. Cut pepper in 2cm slices and repeat onion process (if needed, add a little bit of the water you cooked the cod in).

8. Season the water from the cooked the cod with salt and cook the potatoes (cut in circles of 1cm.) Don’t let them overcook, they need to be ‘al dente’. Take them out with a skillet and reserve.

9. In the same water, cook the spring greens well. They should have been cut into two leafs, discarding the stem. Same process for cabbage. Take them out, let it cool, and roll two leaves (it will look somewhat like a dolma).

10. Sautee the white part of the leek in olive oil, cut in half.

11. Cook the eggs for 10 minutes and then take them out ad put into cold water. Peel and reserve.

12. Time to prepare your oven proof tray (ceramic options work well). Start drizzling olive oil on the bottom, add a layer of potatoes, then cod, and in between the cods, the rolls of spring green, cover with onion, olives, peppers and leek. Drizzle with more olive oil. Repeat with another layer.

13. Cover with foil and roast it in 180C oven for 30 minutes. You can sieve the rest of the water from the vegetables and cod, and serve it on the side as a sauce. Garnish with parsley and eggs half cut.