Biscayan Cod
Remove the bones from 2 pounds of cod, and soak in cold water overnight. Put over the fire in fresh water, and heat slowly to boiling, then add fresh water and boil again; take out and scale. Heat a gill of oil, and fry in it 2 chopped onions and a green pepper for a few minutes, and put in a bruised clove of garlic, a sliced tomato, and a chili pepper; add 3 pints of both, and season with 3 tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce and a bunch of parsley; then add a pint of peeled potatoes, and cook forty minutes; then put in the cod, boil for five minutes, and serve.
This is salt cod, not fresh, despite the bare word "cod" — the overnight soak and the double change of water only make sense for the dried, salted fish. Buy a piece of thick centre-cut bacalao and plan the soaking a day ahead.
- The fishTwo pounds of dried salt cod, soaked 12-24 hours in cold water in the refrigerator, with the water changed two or three times. Fresh cod needs no soaking and would fall apart under this treatment; if you use fresh fillets, skip straight to the sauce and poach them in it for the final few minutes.
- "Take out and scale"This most likely means skinning and cleaning: after the fish has been heated through, lift it out, strip off any skin, and pick out remaining bones and hard edges.
- A gill of oilHalf a cup. Olive oil is correct for a Basque dish, and half a cup is generous but not out of line for the quantity of vegetables. Four tablespoons will do if you prefer.
- The liquidThree pints of broth or the fish's own cooking water. Use fish stock or light chicken stock; do not use the first soaking water from the salt cod, which is heavily salted.
- A pint of potatoesA volume measure, roughly three-quarters of a pound to a pound of peeled potatoes cut into chunks, two or so medium waxy potatoes. They should be simmering in the sauce, not boiling hard.
- TimingForty minutes is longer than potatoes need; check at 20-25 minutes and let the sauce reduce rather than cooking the potatoes to collapse. The five minutes for the cod is right — salt cod is already cooked through and only needs to warm and take up sauce. Longer makes it stringy.
- SaltSeason at the very end, after the fish has gone in. Even well-soaked salt cod carries plenty, and the dish is easily ruined by salting the sauce early.
- YieldServes four generously as a main course with bread.