Look for clean, white flesh that has a strong fish odour. Salted cod can be purchased either boneless or with the bone in. This recipe is a typical southern Italian baccala recipe that is simple to make and will usually make its way onto the Christmas Eve dinner menu. At this time of year especially, it is quite common to see salted cod at grocery stores and specialty fish stores to accommodate the various cultures that include salted cod dishes as part of their Christmas celebrations. Fortunately, in more recent times, laws and legislation have been put into place to ensure the survival of this versatile fish. Over the centuries this caused some of the most popular cod varieties to enter a vulnerable state of existence and brought fishing villages to their knees. The port of Trapani in Sicily was essential in supplying the fleets of fishermen with salt they required to preserve their fish so it became an ideal trading point and a regularly found food in Italy.Īs this fish continued gaining popularity, fleet after fleet headed to the northern waters without regard for the diminishing cod population.
Since the Mediterranean was abundant in tradable goods such as fruit, wine, nuts, oils, and sugar they were positioned as a great trade partner. Cod became the most caught fish in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean countries became the largest consumers of salted cod.Īlthough the method of preserving with salt was not new to Italy, the mild white versatile flaky meat of cod was highly welcomed and an immediate love affair began with this fish. Although this dried fish was already a popular trading commodity in Northern Europe, it didn’t become big business until large navies started in on the pursuit.The discovery of the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland that were teeming with cod combined with the depleting Mediterranean fish stocks made way for large scale fishing and trading. During their early contact with Viking sailors, they too realized the nutritional and commercial value of cod. However, we owe the conversion from stock fish to salted cod to the Basque (Spanish) sailors long before this. Querini returned to his homeland of Venice relaying his experiences and thoughts about this amazing commodity, ‘pesce stocco’ or ‘stoccofisso’ – stock fish. The fishermen welcomed the Italian sailors into their homes, fed them their traditional cod dishes and taught them the art of preserving this abundant fish.
It is said that in 1431, a Venetian merchant sailor named Captain Pietro Querini and a handful of survivors from his shipwrecked crew were rescued by Norwegian fishermen along the uninhabited rocky southern tip of Norway’s Lofoten islands. Their process of air-drying freshly caught cod in the cold and salty northern sea winds provided them with an easily transportable and highly nutritious food for long oceanic voyages. This wonderful addition to Italian cuisine comes via a long history of travel, trade, and necessity.ĭried cod had been used by Viking sailors since the early Middle Ages. You would think this fish that became such a staple food was available locally to those regions but actually cod has never been seen to swim those waters. Salted cod, known as ‘baccala’ in Italian, is a fish that has enjoyed extreme popularity in much of the Mediterranean.
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