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Salt Cod Foodways

Bakailaoa

Specialised

Cod salted at sea and rehydrated at home, the backbone of inland and Lenten eating: pil-pil, where cod gelatin and olive oil are emulsified by nothing but motion and gentle heat; a la vizcaína with dried choricero pepper flesh — ⚠ NOT tomato, which is a later shortcut; ajoarriero across Navarre and Aragón; zurrukutuna soup; and cod omelette at the cider house.

Atlas — where and when

Communities and languages

Languages: Basque

What is recorded

  • Bacalao a la vizcaína is made with the soaked flesh of dried choricero peppers. Tomato-based versions are a later simplification and are widely served; both exist and they are not the same sauce. documented
  • There is no cod in the Bay of Biscay fishery: bakailao arrives salted, from Basque crews working the Newfoundland and Labrador banks from the sixteenth century. Red Bay in Labrador is archaeologically documented as a Basque whaling and cod station. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • originates from Basque Whaling and Cod History documented

    Salt cod reaches this kitchen through Basque crews fishing and salting off Newfoundland and Labrador, not through any local cod.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.