Bacalhau à brás

Lisbon, Portugal

The most beloved of all bacalhau preparations — shredded desalted salt cod bound with scrambled eggs, fried matchstick potatoes, and onion, garnished with black olives and parsley. Bacalhau à brás was created in the 19th century in the Bairro Alto neighbourhood of Lisbon and has become the bacalhau preparation that defines everyday Portuguese cooking. The technique is essentially a scrambled egg dish with cod and potato — but the texture requires precision: the eggs must be barely set (soft and creamy, not cooked through), the potatoes must be crisp (added last, to preserve texture), and the cod must be finely shredded into individual fibres rather than flaked into chunks.