Bacalhau à Lagareiro is also known as Bacalhau no Forno – Roasted Saltcod, and Bacalhau Assado com Batatas a Murro – Roasted Saltcod with Punched Potatoes. It consists of roasted salt cod which abundantly coated in olive oil, and usually paired with potatoes, onions, and garlic.
It is one of the most famous ways of preparing the celebrated bacalhau. Perhaps because it represents the authentic Portuguese cuisine, delicious and uncomplicated. Or maybe because it combines some of the most basic ingredients to every Portuguese household. Either way, Bacalhau à Lagareiro is available in restaurants from North to South from the most traditional to the modern. Despite being simple it is very indulgent and essential to many Portuguese celebrations.
À Lagareiro- Olive Oil Mill Style
What’s the meaning of À Lagareiro? Well, it literally means olive oil presser/mill style. And the most well-known story behind the name is that it was created by mill workers using olive oil pressed from the early harvests in October. It was both a good way for them to try their own product, and also to celebrate a successful harvest and hard labour of the year.
This story ties the invention of Bacalhau à Lagareiro to the sub regions of Beira Baixa and Beira Alta since their climate was favourable to the production of olives. In this theory, the recipe was perfected each year until it became popular and spread to the rest of the country. Some claim that the dish first appeared in Minho, although the wet climate of the region, is not the best for growing olives, which make this theory less likely to be accurate.
About the Technique – Bacalhau à Lagareiro
As the name suggests, the star or stars of this dish are bacalhau (salted cod or saltcod) and olive oil. It can be prepared in slightly different ways, but it mostly consists of roasting your fish in a bed of olive oil. As it cooks, the oil emulsifies with the juices of the fish, resulting in a delicious sauce that is used to baste the fish half away through the process.
The same process can be used to cook octopus in the famous Polvo à Lagareiro. You can also find vegetarian/vegan recipes that replace cod with mushrooms, and tofu in more modern interpretations of this famous style.
Batatas à Murro – Punched Potatoes
What is a punched potato? A punched potato or batatas a murro in Portuguese is quite simply a potato that’s been precooked with skin on, slightly flattened with a gentle punch, then placed in the oven for roasting. The spuds can either be precooked in boiling water until fork tender or roasted for a crispier result. When you flatten the potatoes, the skin cracks allowing the seasoning to penetrate it. The result is creamy flavourful potatoes with a crispy skin, that are also beautiful to serve.
About Our Recipe – Bacalhau à Lagareiro
For this recipe, we are using salt cod loins. We prefer to buy the dried fish to soak at home ourselves, but you can also go for the frozen fish that’s been soaked already. The frozen fish is more practical but also more expensive since you are paying for the water weight in an already hydrated product. If you are not familiar with bacalhau, this guide explores the different types of cod available in Portugal, and it’s very helpful when it comes to buying it.
If you opted for the dried salt cod, have in mind that you should start the soaking process a couple of days before you plan to cook. The best way to do it is to place the fish in a container with cold water, cover with a lid, keeping it in the fridge. The water should be changed about every 8 hours. The total time will depend on the thickness of the loin, and it can take up to 72h. Our pieces were ready to be cooked after 36h. The best way to know if they are ready to be used is to try a little bit of the fish from a middle section.
The remaining ingredients are Portuguese extra virgin olive oil, small red potatoes, garlic, onions, some herbs, and spices. For a more nutritious meal, you can pack it with more vegetables, such as green beans, broccoli, and peppers. You can enjoy it on its own or pair it with crusty bread, salads, or steamed rice!
How to Make Bacalhau à Lagareiro – Portuguese Oven Baked Cod
Ingredients:
- 2 pieces dried salt cod loin (approx. 600g)
- 500g small red potatoes – skin on
- 1 large onion (approx. 200g) – thickly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves – whole
- 80ml extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
Preparation
- To start this recipe, you should have your salt cod ready to be used – that is soaked in water in advance as we instructed above.
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
- Place a small frying pan over low heat. Slice the onion and use the back of a knife to lightly crush the garlic cloves. Add them to the frying pan. Add in the olive oil. Cook everything on low heat for about 5 minutes and set aside.
- Thoroughly clean your potatoes, place them in a baking dish with a drizzle of olive oil. Cook them in the oven for around 20 minutes or until they are soft enough to be crushed.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, use a fork to lightly crush them until they break through the skin and set them aside.
- To a new, bigger baking dish, add half of your olive oil we lightly fried earlier, and place the pieces of fish at the centre. Place the potatoes around the fish and coat everything with the remaining olive oil mixture.
- Season it with some more black pepper, add the bay leaf and thyme.
- Bake everything for about 10 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the fish with the olive oil sitting at the bottom, and flip the potatoes. Place it back in the oven, cook for another 20 minutes. If your oven is equipped with a grill, turn it on for the last 10 minutes, for a crispier finish. Carefully remove it from the oven. Serve it with a drizzle of the olive oil sauce.
They say there are 1000 recipes with salt cod in Portugal! Some of them we already posted here: the simple and delicious Bacalhau à Brás, the more indulgent Bacalhau com Natas, and our favourite Portuguese snacks Pastéis de Bacalhau.
Let us know if you tried this recipe, we would love to hear in the comments!
Delicious! We added some shallots.
Makes me homesick for my few years living outside of Cascais ♥️
We used a ricer for the potatoes but this looks easier and just as good!