Salt Cod in White Garlic Sauce (Bakalar na Belo)

Preparation

1. Soaking the Cod (in Advance)

Place the whole piece of cod or pre-cut portions in a large container and cover with cold water — the water must submerge the fish by at least 5 cm. Cover and refrigerate or keep in a cool place.

Change the water every 8 hours — three times in total over 24 hours. To test whether it is sufficiently desalted: taste a small piece of the raw flesh — it should taste like mildly salted fish, not like seawater. If still too salty, continue soaking.

2. Cleaning and Preparing the Cod

Remove the soaked cod from the water. Trim off any fins. You can leave the skin on or remove it — for this version we recommend leaving it on, as it holds the flesh together during poaching and becomes tender. Remove any larger bones with tweezers or your fingers. Divide the flesh into portions (8–10 cm).

3. Poaching the Cod and Potatoes

In a sufficiently large pot, bring unsalted water to a boil. Add the potato cut into large cubes (3–4 cm) and cook for 10 minutes until beginning to soften.

Add the cod portions and continue cooking over low heat for a further 12–15 minutes. The fish is done when it flakes easily into layers — it should not boil vigorously, only gently simmer. Boiling too hard ruins the texture of the fish.

Carefully remove the cod and potato with a slotted spoon — reserve 100–150 ml of the cooking water for thinning the sauce if needed.

4. Making the White Sauce

While the cod is cooking, prepare the sauce:

In a small frying pan, gently heat the olive oil over very low heat. Add the garlic and warm for 2–3 minutes — the garlic must not colour, only soften and release its fragrance. Remove from the heat.

Stir in the chopped parsley and lemon juice into the warm oil. Taste for salt — add only if truly needed, as the cod still carries saltiness. Add white pepper.

5. Plating and Serving

In deep bowls, arrange the poached potato, then lay pieces of cod on top. Spoon the garlic and olive oil sauce generously over everything. Scatter with additional fresh parsley.

Serve immediately while warm. Perfect alongside: Swiss chard cooked with garlic and olive oil, fresh white bread for mopping up the sauce, or a simple rocket and lemon salad.

Variation: Creamy Cod

For a thicker, creamier version: after poaching, finely flake about 200 g of the cod with a fork and combine with half the sauce until you have a thick spreadable paste. Leave the remaining fish in pieces. Serve as a combination — part creamy, part chunky — on toasted slices of bread. This is closer to the Dalmatian baccalà mantecato style.

Tips

Olive oil — do not scrimp: this dish lives and breathes olive oil. Use extra virgin oil of proven origin — Greek, Spanish or local Balkan first-press oil. Gentle warming (not frying) preserves the aroma of the oil and carries it into the sauce.

Oversalted cod: if the cod turns out still too salty after poaching, soak the cooked pieces in fresh warm water for 15–20 minutes — some of the salt will transfer to the water. Do not season the oil and garlic sauce in this case.

White vs. black pepper: white pepper gives a discreet, warm heat and does not break the aesthetics of the white sauce with black specks. Black pepper is equally good in flavour if that is all you have.

Fresh parsley is non-negotiable: dried parsley is not a substitute in this recipe — the difference is enormous. Fresh parsley provides green colour, freshness and fragrance; dried gives only a pale powder. If fresh parsley is unavailable, use fresh chives or fresh dill.

Christmas Eve tradition: in Dalmatian and coastal households, bakalar na belo is the essential dish on Christmas Eve (the evening of the strict fast before Christmas in the Julian calendar). This dish carries centuries of Adriatic fasting tradition.