Bacalao (salted cod) red stew | Brudet od Bakalara

Ah, salted cod. I remember various Christmas Eve's where this dish and other fish dishes would be served. The other dishes were ok, but the bakalar was always special because that was the only time throughout the year that we had it, so it was always a kind of wow moment. Even if at the time I didn't think it tasted too good. Now my tastes have changed.

Salted cod is eaten all around Christian European countries like Italy, Portugal, Spain, the Nordic countries and then moved over to South America. (Oh, and Croatia!) It was also eaten by Catholic clergy as a kind of cleansing meal before these big feast days of Easter and Christmas.

The cod is caught, heavily salted and dried which you can buy as a whole fish or shredded in the freezer section of your deli or fish market. Regardless of whether you buy a whole fish or shredded you will need to soak it in water for atleast 48 hours to get the salt out (and funnily enough you add salt back into the dish when you're cooking). I loved using the shredded version as the bones have all been picked out, so it saves an incredible amount of time, and takes away the fear when eating (no one wants to choke on a cod bone).

This is the first in a series of three bakalar recipes. From one fish, or a one kilogram packet of frozen fish you can make all these recipes and they serve four comfortably. And you have six months to prepare for Christmas 2020. Enjoy!

Let me know if you tried this super fish dish and what you thought?

Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)