Salt Cod ~ Bacalhau

Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa

Marcel Proust had his madeleine. David Leite has his Portuguese salt cod, potato, and egg casserole.

2 hrs 10 mins

All-Time Favorites

Pastéis de Nata ~ Portuguese Custard Tarts

Not Portuguese? Not a problem. It won’t lessen your appreciation for these little lovelies with the shatteringly crisp pastry cradling ridiculously creamy custard.

2 hrs 30 mins

Milk Mayonnaise

Maionese de leite in Portuguese, milk mayonnaise–you heard us–is a creamy, eggless emulsion held together by oil, milk (natch), and a lotta love.

5 mins

Caldo Verde ~ Portuguese Green Soup

Considered Portugal’s national dish, caldo verde, or green soup, is a homey dish of potatoes, kale sliced whisker thin, and smoky pork sausage.

1 hr 5 mins

Most Recent

Portuguese Carne Assada

A traditional Azorean dish that boasts meltingly tender oven-braised beef, potatoes, chouriço, and onions. It’s a rustic, homey, Sunday supper sorta dish from David’s VERY Portuguese mom.

6 hrs 30 mins

Homemade Portuguese Chouriço

If you’ve got some time, patience, and access to a smoker, homemade smoked Portuguese sausage is within your reach. Go on. Impress your friends.

2 d

Desserts ~ Sobremesa

Portuguese Sweet Lemon-Black Olive Cookies

We think these conversation-starting cookies defy the laws of physics. When you experience what big flavors they flaunt for something so thin, we think you, too, will be convinced.

50 mins

Sopa Dourada ~ Portuguese Golden Soup

Slices of sponge cake are dipped in a sugar syrup, drizzled with a custard sauce, and sprinkled with cinnamon in this Portuguese Christmas tradition.

20 mins

Serradura ~ Portuguese Sawdust Pudding

Perhaps the easiest dessert ever, this simple yet stunning Portuguese staple is made with just three ingredients. Cookies. Cream. And sweetened condensed milk.

1 d 30 mins

Salame de Chocolate ~ Chocolate Salami

An easy, no-bake, Portuguese classic made with crushed cookies, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, and whatever nuts or dried fruit you happen to have around. And (hiccup) Port.

2 hrs

A Pequeno History of Portuguese Food

Portugal has been called a lot of things—diminutive, minuscule—but one thing it’s never been called is insignificant. About the size of the state of Indiana, it measures a meager 349 miles from north to south, a trip ambitious travelers can pull off in a day. Yet its major historical provinces offer wild extremes of temperature, weather, and terrain that, for centuries, have resulted in an amazing variety of some of the finest foods on the Iberian Peninsula. Distinctive and artisanal, these foods have shaped local diets, customs, and traditions, many of which have remained virtually unchanged for generations. Anyone with good sense and a better palate would do right to reserve at least a month to make that 349-mile trek.

Despite its size, Portugal has contributed mightily to world cuisine. During the Age of Discovery, under the watchful eye of Henry the Navigator and, later, the explorers Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, and others, Portugal forged expeditions along the African coast and, eventually, to the East. The result? Formerly exotic spices such as cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, and cloves were brought back to European kitchens and filled Portuguese coffers with unparalleled wealth. At about the same time, Pedro Álvares Cabral sailed westward, reaching Brazil, and opened up routes that introduced the continent, and the world, to many New World ingredients that have become hallmarks of Portuguese cooking, including chile peppers and potatoes.

Azorean Island of Sao Miguel

FAQs about Salt Cod

Because salt cod is one of Portugal’s iconic foods, many think the Portuguese were instrumental in its discovery, which, alas, they weren’t. Nearly five hundred years before the Portuguese began fishing for cod in the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland, the Vikings had stumbled upon one of the world’s largest caches of cod and figured out how to air-dry the fish.

The reason why salt cod is so prized in the Portuguese community, besides being a cheap and shelf-stable staple, is because the drying and salting give a superior taste and texture to an otherwise characterless fish. When a meaty slab of bacalhau is properly desalted and cooked, it will flake perfectly and have just the slightest toothsomeness.

What should I look for when buying bacalhau?

Look for salt cod, preferably from Norway, in Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Spanish, or Latin markets. I’ve also had very good luck with several online purveyors. Buy the thickest, firmest pieces possible; they’ll make for a more substantial meal and a prettier presentation.

How do you desalt salt cod?

To reconstitute the bacalhau, rinse it well under running water to remove surface salt. Place the pieces in a large bowl and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Stretch plastic wrap over the top and refrigerate, changing the water several times, until the fish is sufficiently desalted for you. Take a nibble—it’s perfectly safe to eat. If it’s too salty, change the water again, and let it sit for a few more hours. The process can take anywhere from 12 to 48 hours, depending on the size of the fillet. Above all, bear this in mind: you can always add more salt, but you can’t remove it from a finished dish.

A plank of dried salt cod.

All Portuguese

Portuguese Carne Assada

A traditional Azorean dish that boasts meltingly tender oven-braised beef, potatoes, chouriço, and onions. It's a rustic, homey, Sunday supper sorta dish from David's VERY Portuguese mom.

6 hrs 30 mins

Homemade Portuguese Chouriço

If you've got some time, patience, and access to a smoker, homemade smoked Portuguese sausage is within your reach. Go on. Impress your friends.

2 d

Portuguese Bean Soup

A leisurely way to make a super comforting and filling soup that makes rainy days more bearable. And the leftovers are even better.

5 hrs 30 mins

Broa ~ Portuguese Corn Bread

A traditional Portuguese cornbread that's unlike its American counterpart. There's nothing crumbly about it although there is a heck of a lot to love about it.

4 hrs 15 mins

Portuguese Sausage, Ham, and Cheese Bread

A traditional bread that's heavily punctuated with Portuguese loveliness, including chouriço, presunto, and sheep's milk cheese. Practically a meal unto itself. And a damn satiating one at that.

3 hrs 10 mins

Portuguese Green Olive Dip

For this dip, green olives are stirred into an eggless 'mayonnaise' made with milk, oil, anchovies, garlic, and white pepper. A tasty Portuguese olive dip.

5 mins

Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa

Marcel Proust had his madeleine. David Leite has his Portuguese salt cod, potato, and egg casserole.

2 hrs 10 mins

Portuguese Fisherman’s Stew

All the iconic ingredients of Portugal—shellfish, cod, sausage, onion, garlic, and tomatoes—collide in this delicious stew.

1 hr 35 mins

Portuguese Piri-Piri Hot Sauce

Hot, spicy chiles are the heart and heat of this piri-piri sauce, which is used on chicken, shrimp, pork—just about any dish in Portugal.

5 mins

Papo Secos ~ Portuguese Rolls

David explains how to make classic Portuguese papo secos, the stuff of everyday eating, that essentially look like cherubic little baby buns and have a taste that's also divine.

4 hrs

Bifanas ~ Portuguese Pork Sandwiches

In the pantheon of great Portuguese foods, there are few sandwiches that are more superlative than the bifana. Essentially pork, bread, and sauce, it's comfort food at its simplest.

2 hrs

Serradura ~ Portuguese Sawdust Pudding

Perhaps the easiest dessert ever, this simple yet stunning Portuguese staple is made with just three ingredients. Cookies. Cream. And sweetened condensed milk.

1 d 30 mins

Portuguese Clams and Sausage

Clams, spicy sausage, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and aromatics meld in the Portuguese equivalent of a wok (or whatever pot you happen to have handy).

35 mins