Bacalhau da Consoada

The story

Bacalhau is a fish that never swam in Portuguese waters—it comes from the North Atlantic, today mostly from Norway and Iceland—and yet it is the indispensable center of the Portuguese Christmas Eve supper, the Consoada. The paradox goes back to the age of Portuguese maritime discoveries, when fishermen sailing far across the Atlantic found an abundance of cod on the banks off Newfoundland, and learned to dry and salt it so it would keep on long voyages. That dependence on an imported but perfectly preserved fish became so deeply rooted that today, even when good cod is expensive, the Portuguese consider it an essential part of Christmas Eve. The preparation is simple: the fish is boiled with potatoes and kale, and everything is finished with a generous pour of olive oil. For Portuguese families in America, where good dried cod is harder to find and more expensive, this fish that “never swam at home” remains just as symbolic far from the homeland as it is in Portugal itself.