| A History of Salt Cod | |
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Credit: Bridgeman Images. |
Just below the church of São Francisco – not far from the Maria Pia bridge – Porto’s medieval walls descend from the hills and run along the banks of the River Douro. Known locally as the muro dos bacalhoeiros (wall of the cod-fishers), this short, salt flecked stretch is bounded by the quays where, in centuries gone by, fishing boats docked on their return from the North Atlantic. For almost 600 years, sailors bustled hither and thither, unloading cargoes of salted cod, merchants haggled over prices and stallholders sliced up the freshly arrived fish for eager customers, using the guillotine-like blades attached to their benches. Today, the quays may be quieter, but salt cod (bacalhau) is a no less conspicuous presence. |
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A culinary embodiment of Porto’s maritime past, it can be found for sale in countless shop windows along the riverfront, and dominates the menus of restaurants perched atop the walls.
Often said to be Portugal’s national dish, the bacalhau here is prepared in many different ways. It can be stewed with cream and potatoes (bacalhau com natas), baked into balls (bolinhos de bacalhau), or even cooked into a comforting casserole with eggs, olives and onion (bacalhau à Gomes de Sá). But, however you take your salt cod, its rich flavours conceal an even richer history. Reaching from Norway to Newfoundland and from the Arctic to Africa, it is a tale populated by Vikings and Basques, colonists, traders and explorers – and haunted by the spectre of slavery and extinction. |
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