May 23

May 23 Bacalao

Bacalao is the best fish stew you've never heard of. A trade between two poor countries resulted in the Norwegians providing salt cod to the Portuguese, and the Portuguese providing port to the Norwegians. As a result, the Norwegians have this very Portuguese fish stew as a Norwegian traditional dish. At least, that's the story the locals told me.

Regardless of the origin, it's really, really good. If you use fresh, fish, it's an easy, hands-off recipe, although it stews for 2-3 hours. This recipe makes a gigantic pot, so make sure you have something large enough. If not, divide the recipe in half and don't worry about getting the reduced measurements exact. Other than having way too much fish, you really can't go wrong with approximating the measurements!

Measurements are provided in metric and imperial. The very traditional method is to use salt cod and soak it for 24-36 hours. However, you can also use fresh cod just as easily. Leftovers can be frozen.

Serves 8-10

1 kg watered out clipfish (or 2/3 kg of salted clipfish) (2.25 pounds of fresh cod (or 1.5 pounds salted cod)
1 kg/2ish lbs yellow onions, cut into quarter-inch slices
1 kg/2ish lbs potatoes, scrubbed & cut into quarter-inch slices
2 red chiles (or up to 5, if you like spicy!)
3 (14 oz) cans minced hermeticed tomatoes (diced canned tomatoes)
10 stk whole peppercorns (10 whole peppercorns, can be ground/crushed)
2 fed garlic (2 sliced cloves)
4 bay leafs
30 black olives
3 dl/1.25 cups olive oil

If using salt cod, rinse and place in a large bowl of water (very large) for 24-36 hours. Drain and replace the water at least twice. Salt cod will expand between 35-50% while being watered out, which is why you buy less of it than the fresh version.

See video for directions.