Bacalao (or Baccala or Bacalhau, depending on the homeland of the recipe or the restaurant) is cod that has been salted and dried, giving it a shelf life equal to that of Aristotle’s “Poetics.” It was invented by seafaring nations such as Portugal and Spain, which needed high protein food that would survive long ocean journeys and–for these Catholic nations–be available on mandated meatless times.
To turn cod slabs into edible–in fact, delicious–dishes requires soaking the dried fish in water for up to several days with several changes of water.
Bacalao shows up three ways at the Puerto Rican restaurant La Palma in the Park (1359 N. Sacramento Ave., 773-227-8222), a far more scenic location than the still-operating original La Palma at 1340 N. Homan Ave. The newer La Palma is at home in the renovated historic Humboldt Park boathouse. On one side of the prairie style building is a lovely lagoon and, on the other side, another inviting sight–a spacious parking lot.
Inside the bright, clean though small space, bacalao (made here with cod family member pollack, the fish you get in McDonald’s “Fillet O’ Fish”) can be found wrapped in a triangle of fried dough. These are $1.25 each and are intended as appetizers, side dishes or snacks. The same stuffing appears as a full entree in Bacalao Guisado, a stew with peppers, onions and tomatoes. It’s $7.95 and comes with rice and beans and any of a number of starches including malanga, a potato-like root vegetable, or guineos, which are fried green plantains. A simpler version of the stew is the blanco, just the fish and cooked onions, same price, same extras. Be warned, these stews are seriously salty.
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“Bacalao is big on our menu,” said Salvatore Perry, who, with his wife, Roseanne, accounts for the name RoSal’s, a small Italian cafe (1154 W. Taylor St., 312-243-2357). Available only on the dinner menu as leBaccala, variations here include salt cod in a light tomato, onion and black olive sauce, another in an artichoke sauce, another in a lemon-garlic sauce and a plain baked version. All are in the $14 range.
On Dec. 24, chef Priscila Satkoff’s upscale Salpicon (1252 N. Wells St., 312-988-7811) will present a special Christmas Eve dinner ($49 for four courses). In that menu of her favorite childhood dishes will be a salt cod appetizer, Bacalao Navideno. The fish is cooked with olives, garlic, potatoes and pickled jalapenos.
Though the long sea voyages that gave rise to salt cod are gone, the ingredient–to the joy of its many fans–remains.
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Bacalao
What it is: Cod that has been salted and dried
How much: $1.25-$14