Bacalhau à Brás recipe
The first to take an interest in cod fishing were not the Portuguese, but the Vikings. For good reason, it is a fish found in the cold seas of the North, but very little off the coast of Portugal.
Cod arrived in Portugal in the 14th century, thanks to commercial exchange treaties with the English.
Called "the faithful friend" in Portugal, cod is actually a dried and salted cod.
Poorly organized, the Portuguese fleet is far from meeting demand and the country is becoming increasingly dependent on exports. From the 1930s, under the leadership of Salazar, the country organized a fleet that went to the waters of Newfoundland and Greenland, to fish for cod, which was salted on the boat, then dried when it was unloaded. .
With the fall of the dictatorship in 1974, the Portuguese fleet stopped its fishing expeditions. Cod is now bought from the Norwegians.
There are, they say, 1001 ways to prepare it.
The famous Bacalhau à Brás dish is said to have been created by an innkeeper from a district of Lisbon, Bairro Alto. He would have had the idea of mixing cod, fries and eggs.
Bacalhau à Brás recipe (for 4 people): Ingredients :
- 500 g desalted cod
- 700 g of potatoes
- 2 onions
- 6 eggs
- Parsley
- Olive oil
- Salt pepper
1. Cut the potatoes into thin fries and fry them in oil
2. Cut the onions into strips and brown them in olive oil
3. Add the crumbled cod and cook for a few minutes
4. Add fries
5. Beat the eggs with the parsley and add to the rest
6. Cook and serve hot
