Croatian Bakalar Recipe (Salted Cod)
Bakalar, as it’s known in Croatian, is a salted cod delicacy and is the must-eat traditional dish in our family for Christmas Eve and at Easter.
- 1 dried salt cod
- 12 medium washed and peeled whole potatoes (serves 4-6 guests, add more potatoes for more guests)
- Salt & pepper
- 5 tablespoons parsley, chopped (or more if you like)
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped finely
- Olive oil
- Place the bakalar in a large bucket or tub with cold water. Change the water daily and soak for at least three days
- After soaking the bakalar in water for three days, take the bakalar and beat it with a mallet till it softens. The idea is to soften it before you boil it. So give it a good red-hot bash
- Once beaten, slice in half or into thirds and place into a saucepan and cover with cold water (or you can fold it in half and tie it up)
- Allow to boil, cook until tender. This varies from two and a half to three hours
- Once the bakalar is tender, add the potatoes and boil until they are soft but not falling apart
- Drain the pot, and separate the bakalar from the potatoes into two bowls
- Take the bakalar and remove all the bones and as much of the skin as possible. Note: have a bowl of warm water handy, this process gets very sticky and I find rinsing my fingers in warm water helps
- Once cleaned, break the bakalar into small bite-sized pieces and combine it with the potatoes
- With a wooden spoon, mix the bakalar and potatoes until it's the consistency that suits you. Our family likes to mix it until the potatoes are like mash potatoes. Other families we know use a blender while others like the potatoes much more whole
- Season with salt, pepper, parsley, and fresh garlic and stir in adding in small amounts of olive oil as you go
- Mix, plate and enjoy with a glass of Croatian wine
Eaten across Croatia and in many parts of South America and Europe, this salted cod recipe can be adapted to suit your taste. Add more garlic if you like, or change the ratio of bakalar to potatoes that suit your family.
Just remember that you’ll need to start preparing the bakalar at least three days before you want to eat this dish – so set a little reminder in your calendar now, so you do not forget. Atlantic Cod is a fish species from the Northern Atlantic and is high in essential fatty acids.
It’s very popular around the world as it has a mild flavor and dense flakey white flesh. Salted cod has been produced for over 500 years, since the time of the European discoveries of the New World. Before refrigeration, there was a need to preserve the cod, which led people to drying and salting techniques to preserve the cod.
This is how the Bakalar recipe was born, and generations later, we are still eating it.
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Where you live determines where you can buy dried salted cod. In Europe, you can get it at most supermarkets, like Interspar.
It is less readily available in the US, though you can get it from European specialty stores. Dried cod and the dishes made from it are known by many different names, many of them derived from the root bacal.
They are bacalhau (Portuguese), bacalao (Spanish), bakaiļao (Basque), bacallà (Catalan), μπακαλιάρος, bakaliáros (Greek),baccalà (Italian), bakalar (Croatian), bakkeljauw (Dutch), “makayabu” (Central and East Africa). Other names includeráktoguolli/goikeguolli (Sami), tørfisk/klippfisk/clipfish (Scandinavian), stokvis/klipvis (Dutch), saltfiskur (Icelandic), morue(French), saltfish (Caribbean), toe rag (UK), bakaljaw (Maltese), “labardan” (Russian).
There are so many variations of salted cod recipes from all around the world. This is our Croatian Bakalar recipe from our part of Croatia.
Try it out, and let us know if you like it. This Croatian salted cod recipe is a delicacy and traditional dish in our family.
We eat codfish for Christmas Eve and again at Easter. Happy holidays.
Instructions
Planning holidays in Croatia around Christmas time? Then you’ll need to know about:
