Basque
Bacalao
al pil-pil.
Salt cod, olive oil, garlic, and guindilla. Gentle heat releases the fish’s gelatin; circling the pan binds it with the oil.
Serves 2Time 35 minMethod gentle emulsion
Method
- Soak the salt cod overnight, changing the cold water three times. Pat it thoroughly dry.
- Warm the olive oil with the garlic and guindilla over medium heat. When the garlic is pale gold, lift it out and reserve it. Add the cod and cook gently until the outside just begins to flake while the center still has a slight translucence; the oil may murmur but must never fry hard. Pull it early and let the resting heat finish the fish.
- Transfer the cod to a warm pan skin-side up with two spoonfuls of the hot oil. Let it stand for two or three minutes so the gelatin gathers. Set the pan over the lowest heat, move it in small circles, and add the remaining warm oil gradually until the sauce turns pale and silky. Spoon it partly over the cod and finish with the reserved garlic and guindilla.
The motion is the tool
Use small, steady circles and keep the pan warm rather than hot. The sauce forms from olive oil and the cod’s gelatin; hard boiling is what breaks it.
If it stops taking oil
Pull the pan off the heat for a minute, then resume circling before adding more oil. Usually the pan is too hot, not short on force.