Portugal’s most beloved fish: our top picks for codfish dishes
For us Portuguese, codfish and potatoes go together as naturally as rice and beans. After a lot of tasting and very hard, thorough research, we narrowed it down to our three favourite recipes.
Codfish dishes, our top 3
3. Bacalhau à Minhota (codfish Minho style)
This delicious dish comes from the north of Portugal. Minhota means Minho style, Minho being the region. Like most food from there, it is hearty and simple: you fry a piece of codfish seasoned with paprika in hot olive oil, fry the potatoes in the same oil, and top it all with sauteed onions. The flavour the codfish leaves in the oil is what makes these potatoes so good. A must if you visit the region, but you can find it all over the country in good restaurants. Get the codfish Minhota style recipe.
2. Bacalhau à Lagareiro (codfish Lagareiro style)
A favourite for many people. Simple doesn’t mean less good: with quality ingredients, this very simple recipe can compete with any fine dining dish. The name comes from the olive oil mill, the lagar, and it really celebrates olive oil. It used to be made right at the mill when the new oil was pressed: a beautiful piece of codfish, good potatoes, lots of garlic and onion, all in a tray covered with freshly made olive oil and cooked in a wood oven. Today you will find it in most traditional Portuguese restaurants, and a good quality olive oil does the trick. It was born in the Beiras, between the Douro and Tagus rivers, so if you are ever there, taste it in its birthplace. Get the codfish Lagareiro style recipe or watch our step by step video.
1. Bacalhau à Brás (codfish Brás style)
We finally reached a verdict: probably the most famous codfish recipe, in Portugal and around the world, must take first place. Shoestring potatoes, onions slowly sauteed in plenty of olive oil, egg and, of course, codfish. When done well, it is fine dining meeting comfort food. The recipe was born in Lisbon: the story goes that a tavern keeper called Brás was asked to make a codfish dish on the spot and improvised with the few ingredients he had. It must have been a hit, because it is now on the menu of virtually every Portuguese restaurant in the world. Still, the best place to have it is a small alley in old Lisbon, where the spirit of Brás endures. Get the codfish Brás style recipe or watch our step by step video.
Learn to cook it with us
Want to learn how to make traditional Portuguese food? Check our cooking classes in Lisbon, or visit our YouTube channel for more Portuguese recipes.