Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá

Created in Porto in the 1890s by José Luís Gomes de Sá Júnior, himself a cod merchant with a warehouse on Rua do Muro dos Bacalhoeiros in Porto's Ribeira district (1851–1926). He sold the recipe in 1900 to João, a cook at the Restaurante Lisbonense, with a handwritten note insisting it not be altered. It joined the canonical list of Portugal's 365-plus bacalhau recipes — one for every day of the year, runs the saying.

Created in 1890s Porto by José Luís Gomes de Sá Júnior on Rua do Muro dos Bacalhoeiros; he sold the recipe in 1900 to the cook João at Restaurante Lisbonense with a note insisting it not be altered. Two-step cod: 24–48 hour cold soak, then milk poach—milk's casein binds residual salt.

Layered casserole of salt cod, soft-cooked sliced potatoes, and onions sweated in olive oil, baked until the top edges crisp. Topped with halved hard-boiled eggs and black olives. The cod is rehydrated and gently warmed, never aggressively cooked — it should flake into thumbnail-sized leaves, not shred. If the cod is stringy, it was boiled instead of soaked.

The two-step cod treatment is the load-bearing move. Soak the salt cod in cold water 24–48 hours, changing water 3–4 times, until the salt drops to seasoning level. Then poach briefly in milk (not water) — milk's casein binds residual salt and softens the texture. Skip the milk and the cod stays slightly tough and harshly salty even after long soaking.