Baccalà is salt cod sold by the slab, and while it might not strike you as something to get excited over, it keeps wonderfully, and after a day of soaking to remove the excess salt is as tasty as fresh cod, though a little firmer in texture. You can do all sorts of things with it, but I often just boil it and serve it with mayonnaise and a salad. In other words, it's great when you know you'll be rushed in a day or two.
Less rushed? You could bread it and fry it, cook it up with potatoes, serve it with a spicy sauce. Delightful!
Less rushed? You could bread it and fry it, cook it up with potatoes, serve it with a spicy sauce. Delightful!
Comments
I’ve been using baccalà for years; all it takes is time and you’ve got a wonderfully versatile ingredient. You have to be serious about soaking it and changing the water, keeping the whole process in the refrigerator to avoid bacterial growth. It’s the kind of thing you never notice the supermarket carries until you look for it.
Your article about baccala reminds me of an inexpensive standby recipe for Codfish Gravy when I was growing up in New England. It came in a small wooden box and had to be soaked to get rid of the salt. The gravy was a simple white sauce and we ate it on boiled potatoes. It is seldom available now in stores and very expensive if you can find it.