COD IS KING IN PORTUGAL

Salt cod has long been a national staple in Portugal, where it is said there are as many recipes for this humble fish as there are days in the year.

And at Christmas, the dried and salted fish is central to meals at family gatherings in Portugal, the world's biggest consumer of bacalhau, as it is called here, just as turkey is at Thanksgiving in the United States.

The most traditional way to prepare salt cod is to bake it in the oven and serve it with boiled potatoes. But it can also be grilled, turned into fritters or used to replace meat in a lasagna.

"When I'm asked to come up with a menu for Christmas, I am bound to suggest a salt cod recipe," said chef Ricardo Simoes of the Federico restaurant located at a luxury hotel in central Lisbon.

"We have an incredible culture" around the preserved fish, the 42-year-old added, saying he likes to play with traditional recipes to give them a touch of sophistication.

For 2024, he has designed a cod confit paired with prawns and drizzled with coriander juice.

Portugal consumed nearly 55,000 tonnes of salt cod in 2023, an average of around 6kg for each inhabitant, according to the Cod Industry Association (AIB). Roughly one-third of cod sales happen around Christmas, according to the group.