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Agence France-Presse

Salt cod has long been a national staple in Portugal, where it is said there are as many recipes for the fish as there are days in the year.
And at Christmas, the dried and salted fish is central to family meals in Portugal, the world’s biggest consumer of bacalhau as it is called.
The most traditional way to prepare salt cod is to bake it in the oven and serve it with boiled potatoes.
But it can also be grilled, turned into fritters or even used to replace meat in a lasagne.


“When I’m asked to come up with a menu for Christmas, I am bound to suggest a salt cod recipe,” said chef Ricardo Simoes of the Federico restaurant in the Palácio Ludovice hotel in central Lisbon.
“We have an incredible culture” around the preserved fish, said the 42-year-old, who “likes to play” with traditional recipes to give them a touch of sophistication.
This year, he has designed a cod confit with prawns and drizzled with coriander juice.
Portugal consumed nearly 55,000 tonnes (54,000 tons) of salt cod last year, an average of around 6kg (13lbs) per person, according to the Cod Industry Association (AIB).



Roughly one-third of cod sales happen around Christmas, according to the group.
As the holiday season approaches, supermarkets across the country of around 10 million people prominently display hundreds of salt-encrusted cod.
The central role of cod in the country’s cuisine is surprising since the fish thrives in the deep icy waters such the North Atlantic far from Portugal.
Introduced to the country in the 16th century, salt cod represented a nutritious and non-perishable food source for Portuguese sailors on their long voyages to the Americas and Asia.
Coming to Portugal and not tasting salt cod is like going to Brazil without visiting Rio de Janeiro
Jessica Baptista, a 33-year-old Brazilian tourist
At first, it was exclusively for the aristocracy but gradually became popular among lower classes as the supply increased and prices fell.
Salt cod began to be regarded as “the meat of the poor”. It is also referred to as o fiel amigo or “the faithful friend”.
Consumption boomed in the 20th century during the decades-long dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar, which subsidised cod fishing expeditions off Canada’s eastern coast and Greenland, says Claudia Gomes, director of the Interpretative Centre of the History of Cod, in Lisbon.
Salt cod dishes are popular with tourists in Portugal.


“Coming to Portugal and not tasting salt cod is like going to Brazil without visiting Rio de Janeiro,” said Jessica Baptista, a 33-year-old Brazilian tourist, as she left the Restaurante D’Bacalhau in Lisbon.
Specialising in traditional cod recipes, the restaurant cooks “a minimum of eight tonnes of cod every month”, says its owner, Júlio Fernandes, 68.
Portugal accounts for almost 20 per cent of the world’s consumption of Atlantic cod, which is caught mainly in waters off Iceland and Norway, and is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened species.
The sector employs more than 2,500 people in Portugal, with sales worth €500 million (US$520 million) last year, according to AIB.


Producers predict a fall in consumption this year because of a rise in price – it has jumped nearly 15 per cent to hit almost €14 a kilo.
Younger generations are losing interest, in part because of the time it takes to prepare salted cod. The fish must be soaked in several changes of cold water before cooking.
“Reaching out to young people is our big challenge,” says Vera Xavier, head of production at the Riberalves cod processing plant near Lisbon.


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Food and Drinks

How salt cod is a Christmas family favourite in Portugal, baked, grilled, even in lasagne

Portuguese chef Julio Fernandes’ dish “Bacalhau a Minhota”. Salt cod is traditionally eaten for Christmas in Portugal. Photo: AFP

Jose Martins, 81, chooses a piece of salt cod for a customer at the Manteigaria Silva grocery shop in Figueira Square, Lisbon. It is traditionally served at Christmas in Portugal. Photo: AFP

A piece of confit cod at Federico restaurant, in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo: AFP

Confit cod with açorda, a typical Portuguese dish, made with stale bread, shrimps, and drizzled with coriander juice, at Federico restaurant in Lisbon. Photo: AFP

The Ribeiralves cod processing plant produces nearly 30,000 tons of salt cod per year. Photo: AFP

Cod is stored for salt curing at the Ribeiralves cod processing plant in Moita, Lisbon. Photo: AFP

Cod is prepared for salt curing at the Ribeiralves cod processing plant. Photo: AFP

Customers enjoy a meal at Restaurante D’Bacalhau, in Parque das Nacoes, Lisbon, where a minimum of eight tons of cod per month is cooked. Photo: AFP

Portuguese chef Julio Fernandes points at one of his traditional cod-based dishes at Restaurante D’Bacalhau, in Lisbon. Photo: AFP

An employee readies the cod to be sliced into fillets at the Ribeiralves cod processing plant. Photo: AFP

Cod fillets are soaked in cold water before being frozen and packed at the Ribeiralves cod processing plant. Photo: AFP

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Food & Drink

In cod they trust – for centuries Portuguese have eaten the preserved fish, and it is traditionally served during the holiday season


In cod they trust – for centuries Portuguese have eaten the preserved fish, and it is traditionally served during the holiday season.


Christmas

Portugal