Codfish dishes, a local’s top picks!

Portugal most beloved fish, here are our top picks for codfish dishes

This combination of flavors comes as natural as rice and beans for we Portuguese. After a lot of tasting and a very hard and thorough research we narrowed down to our three favorite recipes.

Codfish dishes, our top 3 favorites

3.Bacalhau à minhota (codfish Minho´s way)

Codfish, minho’s way

This delicious dish has originated in the north of Portugal, the name minhota comes exactly from that, means “Minho way”. Minho being said region. As most of the food in that region, is a very hearty dish, and a simple one, basically you fry a cod fish piece seasoned with paprika powder in hot olive oil, and in the same oil you fry the potatoes, add some delicious sauté onions on top, and that’s it. The flavor that the cod fish leaves in the oil is what makes these fried potatoes so good.
The result is a hearty cod fish dish full of flavor, a must if you are in the region. But you can find it all over the country in good restaurants.

2.Bacalhau à lagareiro (codfish “lagareiro” style)

Codfish, lagareiro style

For many people this one is a favorite, again and because simple doesn´t has to mean not as good, we have a recipe that couldn’t be more simple, but with the usage of good quality ingredients can compete with any three Michelin star dishes. This one gets his name from the olive-oil mill, “lagareiro” means exactly that, so it really celebrates the olive oil, used to be made as a celebration of when the olive oil was made, and right there at the mill. You get a beautiful piece of codfish, some good quality potatoes, lots of garlic and onion, add everything to a tray and just pour lots of freshly made olive oil, in a traditional wood oven and just let it cook there. Nowadays you can taste this dish in most of the traditional Portuguese restaurants all over the country. Instead of freshly made olive oil a good quality one does the trick. Lagareiro style codfish has actually originated on the region between the Douro and Tagus rivers, known as “Beiras”, so if you are ever there be sure to taste this dish in his birth place. Learn how to make it on this step by step Youtube video recipe, or follow the link: https://youtu.be/LhcqWUp8C9I

1. Bacalhau à Brás (Brás style Codfish)

Cod fish, Brás style

We finally came to a conclusion, this one, probably the most famous cod fish recipe, not only in Portugal, but around the world, must take first place, the combination of string potatoes, with the onions slowly sautéed in an abundance of olive oil, the egg and, of course, the cod fish, makes for a very different but yet delicious meal, its fine dining meeting comfort food when done well. This recipe has its origins in Lisbon, story goes that a bartender called Braz, was asked to make a codfish dish on the spot. Bras only had a few ingredients at his disposal, and he improvised a recipe just putting everything together, since then the recipe has been improved, but must have been an hit, because now it is virtually in every menu of any restaurant of Portuguese cuisine around the world, nonetheless, the best place to have it is still in some small alley in the old part of Lisbon, where the Bras spirit still endures. Learn how to make it on this step by step Youtube video recipe, or follow the link: https://youtu.be/Ml4bYSOkwVk

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