Midwest Mary

bacalhau (salgado) (Portuguese)
bacalao salado (Spanish)
bacallau salgado (Galician)
μπακαλιάρος, bakaliáros (Greek)
Klippfisch (German)
morue salée (French)
baccalà (Italian)
bakalar (Croatian)
bakaljaw (Maltese)
makayabu (Central and East Africa)
klipfisk (Danish)

Homemade pasta, tomato sauce, ricotta and sausage pie, baccala. Recipes from my Italian grandma don’t include measurements. She taught me to cook with my senses rather than measuring cups and timers. Best of all, these recipes included priceless conversations with her.

Some of my favorite childhood memories were cooking with my Grandma Rose and great-aunt, Antoinette. I learned their cooking methods for delicious pastas, breads, salads, meats, and pastries while they shared stories of their lives. They also patiently and lovingly listened to mine.

Most recipes these women shared aren’t supported with exact measurements. They had a more intimate way of knowing and understanding the foods they prepared.

How does the dough feel? If it’s sticky, add a little more flour. Taste the sauce. What does it need? These tomatoes aren’t as sweet as the other types. Add a little sugar. Smell the roast cooking? Does it smell like it’s done? Does it feel cooked when you touch it?

Some of these recipes included fish. As Catholics, fish was on the weekly menu. For most of my childhood, and throughout Lent, we had fish on Fridays, so we looked for affordable types of fish we could feed a large family.

One of Grandma Rose’s recipes was for a baccala salad. Baccala is old, peasant food. The dense fish does not taste fishy. It is filling, can be prepared in numerous ways, and best of all, it used to be reasonably priced.

Prepared as a salad, it is vinegary, salty, and chewy. I find the dish satisfying, but this may be because I’ve grown up with it. New family members aren’t typically interested in trying it.

Baccala is an Italian word for salted cod. The fish isn’t as inexpensive as it once was, but it is still popular in many European cultures. When traveling through Greece, Portugal, and Italy I found it readily available.

However, it isn’t common in mainstream American stores. We need to look in the ethnic shops. I purchase baccala in an Italian grocery store near me.

Baccala is made by drying and salting cleaned cod fish. This ancient preservation method allows the fish to be easily transported and stored for years.

Preparation for cooking begins with cutting the stiff, white, dried, and salted fish into large pieces and soaking it in the refrigerator in a deep pan of cold water for several days. The water is changed a couple of times a day for about three or four days in a row. When it is ready for cooking, it will be plump and just a touch salty.

The fish is then prepared into balls with bread crumbs and seasoning and then fried, creamed into a spread for bread and crackers, baked or sauteed with olives, tomatoes, and potatoes, or other vegetables, or made into cold salads.

As with all of the old family recipes, ingredients were added or subtracted from the dish depending on what was in the pantry. For example, when I recently made this recipe for baccala salad, I didn’t have the sweet cherry peppers it calls for. I only had jars of hot cherry peppers and smoked, sweet red peppers in the house, so I used about half of each jar in the salad and omitted the red pepper. Olives and capers also make good additions.

Tasting the salad often is important. Because the fish was previously salted, it isn’t likely to need any salt, but it may if it was soaked for a long time. Vinegar and oil quantity also varies on the density and amount of fish used.

Here is Grandma Rose’s “recipe” for Baccala Salad.

-O-

Grandma Rose’s Baccala Salad

Ingredients
Baccala
Garlic, peeled and chopped
Oregano
Red pepper
Jar of sweet cherry peppers, seeded and sliced
Lemon juice or white vinegar
Olive oil

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.

Drain the prepared cod in a colander. Pat it dry with a paper towel.

Place the fish on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Oil the top of the fish. Bake until flakey. (The fish can also be simmered in a skillet with water.)

Remove the fish from the pan and allow it to cool completely.

Flake the fish. Add olive oil, white vinegar, garlic, and cherry peppers. Season with oregano and red pepper flakes as desired. Mix well.

Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

**

*Photos by Mary K. Doyle

The rosary is a meditative way to focus on the life of Christ. For an easy way to pray with the rosary, see The Rosary Prayer by Prayer. You can simply follow along page by page. Scripture, reflections, and illustrations are included with each mystery.

©2024, Mary K. Doyle