Another Traditional Portuguese Dish of BACALHAU (Codfish)
If you look for recipes for the very famous "Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá", a dish from "Douro Litoral" region, you will realize that there are several recipes for it. Which one is the original?
Actually the original recipe offered by Mr. Gomes de Sá Júnior to the owner of the Restaurant "Lisbonense" at Porto city, is very different from most of the recipes being cooked nowadays. That one was prepared in the oven, the potatoes were sliced and with skin on.....etc.
Nevertheless, this dish is traditionally prepared nowadays this way or in a similar one. Here you have the way I cook it.
Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá
Ingredients:
1,5 kg Codfish (Bacalhau)
2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Bay leaf
4 eggs, hard boiled
2 dl Olive Oil (Be generous, this dish need a good portion of olive oil)
Parsley chopped
Optional for decoration: Black olives
Preparation:
1. Bring a pan of water to a boil, add the already desalted codfish. When starts boiling again cook for 3 minutes, drain water, let it cool and clean from bones and skin. Set aside.
2. Put the olive oil in a pan, add the onion, garlic and bay leaf and cook until soft and slightly golden brown. Stir often to avoid burning.
3. Add the shredded “bacalhau” cleaned from bones and skin and cook for a few minutes stirring all the time to avoid sticking to the pan. Reserve.
4. In another pan, boil the pre washed potatoes with skin on together with the eggs. Be careful to avoid cooking the potatoes for too long. They should be cooked but still firm. Once cooked, peel and cut in medium size cubes.
5. Put the boiled eggs in iced water and remove the shell when completely cool, and set aside.
6. Turn the fire of the codfish pan on, add the still warm potatoes to the codfish and stir it with the “bacalhau”, taking care to keep the potatoes as intact as possible, until they are very well mixed and coated with the mix of “bacalhau” and onion. About 2 to 3 minutes.
7. Once done transfer to a serving dish, decorate with 3 boiled eggs cut into wedges, and 1 egg chopped. Spread the chopped egg and parsley. Decorate with some olives and serve immediately!
Bon Appétit! Itadakimasu! Bom Proveito!
