Bacalhau com grão

The story

Salt cod is a Holy Week staple in Portugal. In the Algarve it is one of the main dishes of the week, especially on Good Friday, which falls on March 26, 2027, and cooks there prepare it many ways, including the traditional bacalhau com grão e espinafres, salt cod with chickpeas and spinach. In some regions cod stays important until the last days of Holy Week, and in parts of the Beiras meat is avoided until the Enterro do Bacalhau, the burial of the salt cod that marks the end of Lent. Good Friday is a national holiday in Portugal, and at Easter bacalhau shares the table with lamb and kid goat.

Bacalhau com grão is the plainest of these dishes: soaked cod poached and flaked over warm chickpeas and hard-boiled eggs, dressed with olive oil, garlic, onion, vinegar and parsley. Lisbon has a baked relative called meia-desfeita, in which a sauté of onions and garlic in olive oil is spread over cod and chickpeas before it goes into a hot oven until the oil bubbles.

Start soaking the cod on the Tuesday or Wednesday of Holy Week; on the day itself the dish takes about 45 minutes and needs only bread and a green salad alongside.