Taking a break from the usual restaurant tours, I decided to add something that has somewhat become a tradition for this blog; our traditional meals in our family. Although we trace our lineage from the Kapangpangans or Cabalens and have that inculcated with our daily meals, it is during the special holidays do we really roll out the good stuff. Last New Year I featured, Callos on this blog and how we made it, our own family recipe I presume. And since Holy Week has just dawned upon us here in the Philippines, we have a tradition of having a HUGE SEAFOOD spread on Good Friday. But over the years it has been watered down to 2 basic dishes: Bacalao and Fresh Oysters in onions, ginger, all soaked in vinegar and left to “cook” for awhile. We call it Kilawin.
I won’t go into details about the Kilawin since most, if not all of you know about this dish already but basically just DON’T EAT IT ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.
Bacalao or Bacalhau on the other hand is a different story. It is a completely foreign dish which traces its history all the way back to Spain.Bacalao is the Spanish term for dried salt cod. The dried fish is white, delicate, and tender once it’s re-hydrated. Lomo is the best cut; avoid the chewy end pieces.
Pronunciation:
[bah-kah-LAH-oh]
Tomatoes! Tomatoes! and more Tomatoes!
Stripping the Meat by Hand was a chore!
Stewing the Bacalao!
Although it is a staple in Spain, we only have it in our family once a year. (Mostly because it is a very very expensive fish which doesn’t yield too much meat costing about P800/ half a kilo) Our preparation includes, tomatoes (and lots of it), potatoes, garbanzos, red bell pepper, oh and did I mention tomatoes? The most time consuming part of the dish would be the preparation of the fish. It takes 2-3 times to completely wash the fish meat. After which you need to strip off the meat by hand to ensure that no bones go along with the mushed up meat in the stew.
According to Wikipedia:
Salt cod has been produced for at least 500 years, since the time of the European discoveries of the New World. Before refrigeration, there was a need to preserve the codfish; drying and salting are ancient techniques to preserve nutrients and the process makes the codfish tastier.
The Portuguese tried to use this method of drying and salting on several varieties of fish from their waters, but the ideal fish came from much further north. With the “discovery” of Newfoundland in 1497, long after the Basque whalers arrived in Channel-Port aux Basques, they started fishing its cod-rich Grand Banks. Thus, bacalhau became a staple of the Portuguese cuisine, nicknamed Fiel amigo (faithful friend). From the 18th century, the town of Kristiansund in Norway became an important place of producing bacalhau or klippfish.
This dish was popular in Portugal and other Roman Catholic countries, because of the many days (Fridays, Lent, and other festivals) on which the Church forbade the eating of meat.Bacalhau dishes were eaten instead.[1]
Bacalhau is also popular in Sfax where this dish is eaten in the first day of Eid ul-Fitr with charmoula.
Finally! Stew is OVER!
More Bacalao Please!
I’ve always loved this dish and always will. Drizzle some olive oil on it, toast some bread, and voila, you’ve got a dish fit for royalty! Although it differs with preparation every time since some are better at stripping bones than others, this is something I would choose to continue as a tradition. Not because of its religions implications, but rather because of the tradition that comes with it. The memories, the feeling of belonging to a tradition laden family is something I’ve always aspired too. Along with Lengua, and Callos, Bacalao I’m sure is something my kids will be eating someday.
Photography and Food Styling by: Carlos Palma
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Carlos Palma. Carlos Palma said: http://tinyurl.com/ygy9pvk Bacalhau, Traditions, and Good Friday [...]
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I thought one stew cup had my name on it
Not a lot of people appreciate Bacalhau and I’m not big on fish, but I like Bacalhau. One of my few choices of fish dish. And when done right, it’s really something your stomach will grumble for.
Your photos truly speak for themselves.
In one word, mouth-watering.
Nice site you have here, covering cuisines I am not so accustomed to.
I have tried Bacalhau in Macau before, but tasted nothing too memorable though.