Cod a Gomez de Sá

If I say that I always love salt cod certainly will be cheating myself, I provably start to like cod when my father was transferred from Sao Paulo to Lisbon. On my first visit to that city my parents invited me out to dinner. Gave me panic when I started to read the menu I only saw there fish, lots of them, pasta and veal- I hate it, and I ate very few bovine meats. But this night my dad makes me change my mind about fish and order Bacalhau com natas (Cod with cream) It was fabulous, soft, tasty sinful delicious The restaurant was in Cascais the city thet they lived in these times, unfortunately I didn’t remember the restaurant’s name Later I discover that is just one of the 365 ways to prepare salt cod in Portugal, one for every day of the year. The Norwegians call it klippfisk, the Spanish bacalao, the Italians baccalà, the Portuguese bacalhau, the French morue – and they forgive it its sins. Salt cod is easy to prepare, but not easy to prepare well. It has to be soaked for a day or two or three This week end I prepared Cod a Gomez de Sá .Is essentially a casserole of cod, potatoes and onion, for the simplicity and purity of flavors is considered one of Portugal's greatest bacalhau recipes. Ingredients • 700g salt cod • 1 cup olive oil • 5 large -sized onions finely sliced • 1Tbsp garlic, finely-chopped • 7 medium-sized potatoes • 6 hard boiled eggs, sliced • 2 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped Method

• Starting the day before, soak the salt cod, refrigerated, in a container of water for 16 - 24 hours, changing the water 3 or 4 times.
• Drain and rinse the cod. Place in a saucepan and fill with water to cover the fish by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Drain thoroughly and flake the fish coarsely, removing any skin or bones with a paring knife. Set aside.
• Boil the potatoes in their skins until easily pierced with a fork or skewer but not soft. Drain, cool and peel. Slice into ¼-inch slices. Set aside.
• In a heavy frying-pan, heat a ½ cup of olive oil over medium high heat for two minutes. Add the sliced onion and sautée for about 6 or 7 minutes until the onions are translucent. Stir in the garlic and remove from the heat.
• To assemble, lay half the potatoes in the bottom of a casserole. Cover them with half the cod and then half the onion. Repeat with the rest and drizzle the rest of the olive oil over the top.
• Bake for about 20 minutes in a 400ºF/200ºC oven until the top is lightly browned.
• Garnish with olives and hard-boiled egg slices. Sprinkle with parsley.