A Humble Dish "Bacalao" | Ecency

Here is my entry for #whatscookingchallenge by @jaynie

I love cooking on occasions when time allows and today I would like to share one of our traditional recipes. A dish which originated from Portugal it has been adapted by our country and eaten during the Lenten season. The recipe evolved and the one I have prepared for you is the original recipe from my great grandmother which has been passed down to us. It's a dish made from fish, vegetables and I diverted a bit from the main ingredient I hope my grandma forgives me. Stay awhile, spend a little time with me, grab a glass of wine , sit back and enjoy.

A Humble Dish "Bacalao"

I make an effort to create content about food during Mondays. It's one way of starting the week right by enjoying and sharing good food. So let's get to it then. I love peppers so we start of with some red bell peppers. I used three small bell peppers, chopped them up and set it aside. Bell peppers does not pack any heat but the flavor is amazing which adds color and taste to this dish. I love spicy food but I would not mischievously add one or two bird's eye chili for this occasion. Not everyone in the family loves spicy food.

Next we need some onions. I used around 4 large onions and there are two ways to do this. Chop the onions into strips or if you have a food processor you can grind them like the one I have here. My aunt told me that it brings out more flavor and the texture of the finished dish looks more pleasing. Just before I forget I also added some garlic in the grinding process about half a head of a garlic or 4-5 pieces. Again we would need to set them aside for now as we prepare the other ingredients.

Now we need a cabbage. We do not need the whole thing just use half of it. Chop them up into small pieces no actual shape is required. It should just be in small pieces unlike in tacos you need to slice them up thinly into strips. My aunt does not want to waste vegetables and she told be to also use the hard part of the cabbage. Just slice them up and should soften up once it goes thru to cooking process. So no wasted vegetable parts here but it is still up to you if you would like to do the same.

We love potatoes mash em, fry em, boil them, put them in a stew or even bake them. Very high in nutrients and you could even make clock run on a potato. So we need 3 large potatoes and we need to dice them up real good. Prepare a solution of water and just add some salt. A full teaspoon would do and just leave and soak the diced potatoes in the solution. We will need to fry them later on and it would be the last ingredient that we would be adding to our dish.

These are chickpeas and we call them here Grabanzoz. These came from a can but you could prepare your own if you prefer, just boil them to soften it up.

Now for the main ingredient which is the fish. The traditional and original recipe you should be using dried fish. Bacalao or Bacalhau is cod fish in Portuguese but in our country large dried salted fishes are used. As cod fish is not available in our country, alternative fishes are used from grouper to tuna dried and salted . Now I hope I am forgiven as I will be using canned salmon which was sent to us by relatives from abroad. You could also use canned tuna as an alternative. This cuts down the preparation time as would would still need to boil up the dried fish. If it is canned salmon just flake them and remove the small bones then set aside.

For the natural orange color we will be using annatto seeds. Here we call them achuete and not just for coloring, cooking but also used for medicinal uses. It has a bit of a peppery smell and also adds a little flavor. I have also heard stories from my grandmother that they used this as a natural lip coloring solution. Money was hard back then but that would not stop you from looking your best. I recall that we had a tree up front our house and my grandma dried up the seeds.

I took the liberty to take a macro shot so you could have a closer look at the seeds.
After mixing with water see the orange color from the seeds which we will be adding later on.

Let's start cooking and fire up the stove. This old stove of my aunt has been cooking delicious meals since my childhood and I feel comfortable cooking here.

Fry up those potatoes until tender we do not want the potatoes fried to a crisp. Once cooked just set them aside to cool down.

A healthier choice use virgin olive oil. You could also use canola or palm oil it's up to you. My grandpa always made sure we use olive oil for this dish. He even check's with my grandma for the bottle if she indeed used olive oil.

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Then we would need to fry up the ground onions and garlic. Better watch the heat and put it on medium as we would not want to burn them.

Get a strainer and pour in the annatto seed solution to add the orange color.

Mix well to spread the color thoroughly and add some more oil as needed.

We can now add the flaked fish and the more fish the better. Stir and let sit for a minute or two.

Next you can add the chickpeas. I'm not a fan of chickpeas but I learned to eat it in this dish.

The red bell peppers goes in next and again mix thoroughly. Let it sit for around a minute.

Then you could add the chopped cabbage and mix well with the other ingredients.

At this point you would need to taste it and add salt as needed. This is rock salt by the way any type of salt would do.

Almost done! Just cook up the cabbage a bit maybe around 3-4 minutes.

The last ingredient before we forget. The fried potatoes to complete the dish.

Let's have a taste to make sure it's perfect. Get your bowl ready, get a piece of raisin bread and pour in a glass of wine.

Put on some music and I would prefer some jazz to spice up the mood.

I would invite you over for a glass of wine with this simple, humble dish from our country. But for now please excuse me as I would be enjoying this dish on my own for the meantime.