How Salt Cod conquered the World

"...as ill luck would have it, it happened to be Fridaytenderness and care. It must be watched-over,
and there was nothing to be had at the inn butencouraged, coaxed and tricked into its edible
some pieces of fish, which is called Abadexo inguise and in this, Spanish chefs are expert.
Castile, Bacallao in Andalucía, Curadillo inPortuguese too, for in the matter of bacalao (or
some places..." Cervantes: Don Quixote, 1605.bacalhão, over the border) the Portuguese
We here in Britain/US might think of it as salt cod,are if anything even more obsessive. They each
or stockfish, were we to think about it at all -consume some ten kilos per annum, and the
which is unlikely. But as in so many other ways,Portuguese housewife is said to have 365
Spain differs from us too on the question of saltdifferent ways of preparing the stuff. A simple
cod. Bacalao (to give its most widely-used title) issearch of the Internet throws-up no fewer than
elevated to legendary, near mythical status, a dish3,500 sites dedicated to bacalhão. The
of iconic significance in festival and fiesta, a stapleBrazilians and other Latin Americans are similarly
of such immense substance it once saved a citypartial, as are the French, Greeks, Italians, North
from siege. For the feeding of the multitude, theAfricans and Norse. Bacalao has conquered the
Forty Fishes aren't even in it. With their holdsIberian Peninsula and a large chunk of the world
stuffed with bacalao, Biscayan whalers crossedbesides, but its story begins in the Basque lands
the North Atlantic to Newfoundland, and theof the Bay of Biscay.
Spanish conquistadors reached the New World. InFrom their scuffles with the Vikings, the Basques
the Spanish language, cortar el bacalao, to 'cut thediscovered that the belligerent, bull-horned
cod', is to be the boss.invaders travelled on a diet of crude dried fish.
Concerning cod, written records are sketchy, butThe resourceful Basques took hold of this idea
we can draw on at least a few sure facts.and improved on it, by salting as well as drying, a
Certainly the first Carlist War of the 1830s is apractice they already employed with whale meat.
matter of historic record, as is the siege of Bilbao.They also improved the design of their own
A footnote to the conflict describes how aboats, borrowing ideas from the Vikings. This was
shopkeeper of that city, before the outbreak ofin the ninth century and, by the tenth, the long
hostilities, ordered "some 20 or 22" bacalao fromlasting qualities of salt fish meant that the
a trader. Of course, in Spanish this would haveBasques could extend their whaling expeditions
read "20 o 22", an order which some sloppy clerkway beyond the coastal shelf. Cod fishing was
mis-recorded as 20,022. The boatload of bacalaotraditionally carried out while on whaling
arrived shortly before the Carlists laid siege to theexpeditions, and the exceptionally low fat content
city. The shopkeeper, at first bemused but soonof cod made it particularly suited to curing. As the
delighted, became rich on the error, while Bilbao'swhale stocks of the Bay of Biscay dwindled, a
citizens saw out the siege on frugal rations ofgalley-full of bacalao would enable the Basques to
nutritious salt cod. To this day, spicy, garlickymount extended expeditions - first towards
bacalao al pil-pil and bacalao a la vizcaina, in a richGalicia, then northwards to the summer breeding
sauce of tomato and olives, are signature dishesgrounds of Iceland, the Outer Hebrides and the
of Basque cuisine, and no Bilbao bar would beFaeroes. According to popular myth (and some
without at least one type of bacalao-based,fragments of historic evidence), the Basques
bite-size pintxo to offer the gourmet tippler.pursued whale to Newfoundland years before
The celebrity of bacalao in Spain seems an unlikelyeither Cabot or Columbus made the crossing.
phenomenon on the face of it. The flensed, driedCertainly they fished those northerly shores by
and crucified fillet looks anything but appetising.the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when cod
Old-vest off-white in colour and coated with awere six feet long and plentiful, in contrast to the
rough salty dandruff, its texture is of balsa woodpersecuted, scarce and diminutive specimens of
and its aroma faintly urinal. Get your preparationtoday.
wrong and your bacalao's an assault on theIt was the Basques who marketed cod products
senses. My first experience of bacalao wasfar and wide, and were responsible for making
memorable, less for the eating than for thebacalao into the peasant staple of southern
protracted spitting-out - of scales and bones - andEurope. Its enduring popularity and legendary
the gulping of beer to purge the briny aftertaste.versatility (some sources claim thousands of
Don Qixote, too, was unlucky, for: "...the landlordbacalao recipes, but this seems to be stretching
brought him a piece of that salt fish, butcredulity) mean that it appears on menus all over
ill-watered and as ill-dressed..." .Spain, perhaps with a predominance in Vizcaya,
A single experience should not colour one'sGalicia and the North. Recently I tried ensalada de
outlook and in the company of Rafaelbacalao with onion, red peppers in the Southern
Andrés, president of the Madrid Restauranttown of Algar and bacalao al Mozárabe - cod
and Café Association, I once enjoyedMoorish style, with grapes in a sweet sauce, in
bacalao so fragrant, so succulent and delicious - itsPriego de Córdoba. Empanada de bacalao con
perfectly-cooked flesh yielding to the fork in moistpasas, coliflor con bacalao, empanadillas de bacalao
flakes, the sauce rich and subtly spiced,and chorizos de bacalao con pasas are just a few
complementing the cod to perfection - as to raisemore sample dishes.
senses to gastronomic nirvana. And the secret,Bacalao is famous for its many uses and here's
the alchemy, the magic by which malodorous slabanother. Stuck for a gift to buy? It's lightweight,
is transmuted to mouth-watering delicacy is.... love.easily transported, durable and nourishing. Give 'em
Yes, cariño, it seems, is all you need. Thatbacalao!
and plenty of time. First the ragged and scaly bitsMORE ON COD:
of the dry bacalao are trimmed, then the fleshCod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the
with skin attached is placed in plenty of freshWorld. Mark Kurlansky, Vintage, 1999. A
water and left to soak for no less than 24 hours.1,000-year history, and a story of the plundering
Three times the water should be replaced so asof what was once one of the world's richest food
to purge the unwanted sodium bicarbonate, andsources.
to rehydrate the cod to its former paleBy Richard Robinsonrichard@rural-andalucia.co.uk
plumpness, to prepare it for the pan. The codRichard Robinson is a UK-based travel writer
pieces are first boiled in an earthenware pot until aspecialising in Spain. Visit his favourite corner of
white froth appears, then removed to a casseroleAndalucía on
dish and sizzled in virgin olive oil, to one of a scoreThis article first appeared in Living Spain magazine,
of different recipes. From the storekeeper's slaba UK monthly publication.
to the plate, the bacalao must be treated with