Portuguese cod and chickpea salad
Meia-desfeita, the salad of bacalhau and chickpeas, is a dish of Portuguese tascas — small taverns where it is served lukewarm rather than cold, as a light lunch. Flakes of salt cod, chickpeas, raw onion and masses of parsley, dressed with good olive oil and wine vinegar. It rests on three ingredients, so each must be good: the cod properly soaked, the chickpeas tender, and olive oil you would happily eat with bread. The cod must start soaking the day before.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Soaking the cod 1440 min
- Cooking 20 min
- Preparation 20 min
- Resting 20 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneSoak the cod
Rinse the salt off the fish and cover it with cold water in a large bowl. Keep in the fridge for 24 hours, changing the water every 6 hours. Thick loin pieces may need 36–48 hours — tear off a corner and taste: salty, but not searing. Soaked, the fish weighs about 550 g.
Ingredients: 300 g dried salt cod (bacalhau) · 480 g canned chickpeas, drained · 1 pcs red onion · 1 clove garlic · 1 bunch parsley · 2 pcs eggs · 1 pcs bay leaf
A day in the fridge and four changes of water.Poach the cod
Cover the drained fish with fresh water and the bay leaf, bring almost to the boil and poach gently for 8 minutes. Do not boil hard or the fish toughens.
Ingredients: 300 g dried salt cod (bacalhau) · 480 g canned chickpeas, drained · 1 pcs red onion · 1 clove garlic · 1 bunch parsley · 2 pcs eggs · 1 pcs bay leaf
Boil the eggs
Hard-boil the eggs for 9 minutes from boiling, cool in cold water and peel.
Ingredients: 300 g dried salt cod (bacalhau) · 480 g canned chickpeas, drained · 1 pcs red onion · 1 clove garlic · 1 bunch parsley · 2 pcs eggs · 1 pcs bay leaf
Flake the fish
Pull the cooled fish into large flakes with your fingers, removing the skin and every bone. Do it carefully — bacalhau can be bony.
Ingredients: 300 g dried salt cod (bacalhau) · 480 g canned chickpeas, drained · 1 pcs red onion · 1 clove garlic · 1 bunch parsley · 2 pcs eggs · 1 pcs bay leaf
Prepare the chickpeas
Drain the chickpeas and rinse them in cold water. If using dried, cook them until tender first.
Ingredients: 300 g dried salt cod (bacalhau) · 480 g canned chickpeas, drained · 1 pcs red onion · 1 clove garlic · 1 bunch parsley · 2 pcs eggs · 1 pcs bay leaf
Chickpeas rinsed, without the canning liquid.Cut the extras
Slice the onion very thinly, chop the garlic finely and roughly chop the parsley.
Ingredients: 300 g dried salt cod (bacalhau) · 480 g canned chickpeas, drained · 1 pcs red onion · 1 clove garlic · 1 bunch parsley · 2 pcs eggs · 1 pcs bay leaf
Dress the salad
Toss the cod, chickpeas, onion, garlic and parsley in a bowl. Add the olive oil and vinegar and season with pepper. Salt is rarely needed — the fish brings enough.
Ingredients: 60 ml extra virgin olive oil · 2 tbsp red wine vinegar · ½ tsp black pepper · 50 g black olives
Be generous with the oil — it binds the salad.Rest and serve
Leave 20 minutes at room temperature for the flavours to settle — no longer for a salad with fish. Serve lukewarm, with quartered eggs and olives.
Ingredients: 60 ml extra virgin olive oil · 2 tbsp red wine vinegar · ½ tsp black pepper · 50 g black olives
Before you start
With fresh cod
Without bacalhau, use 550 g of fresh cod — what the soaked salt cod weighs: poach it 6–8 minutes in salted water and season the salad with salt to taste. Milder, but still good.
From dried chickpeas
200 g of dried chickpeas soaked overnight and cooked for about 60 minutes give a much better texture than canned. Salt the water only near the end.
Storage
The salad keeps 2 days in the fridge and is even better the next day. Take it out half an hour before serving — cold olive oil loses its aroma.
