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Bacalhau à Zé do Pipo

Bacalhau à Zé do Pipo reads richness 6.7, salinity 6.0 and umami 4.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Portuguese main, about 49 hr 27 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 6.9 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.2 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.3 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 1.9 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 7.1 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 3.2 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 6.7 · Salinity 6.0 · Umami 4.6 · Allium 3.1 · Marine & Briny 2.2 · Funk & Ferment 2.2 · Sweetness 2.0 · Bitterness 1.7 · Earthy 1.5 · Sourness 1.3 · Nutty 1.2 · Fruity 0.6 · Warm Spice 0.6 · Heat 0.6 · Herbaceous 0.5

What's in it (12)

• salt cod — 800 g
• regular milk — 500 g
• potatoes — 1000 g
• butter — 60 g
• onions — 500 g
• olive oil — 92 g
• bay leaf — 1 g
• olive oil mayonnaise — 250 g
• oil-cured black olives — 60 g
• yolk — 18 g
• salt — 8 g
• white pepper — 1 g

Time & effort: about 49 hr 27 min (1 hr 27 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 123.8 kcal, 6.6 g protein, 5.1 g fat, 13.2 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

1. The Portuguese say there are as many bacalhau recipes as there are days in the year, and they are all different in the same way this one is: the cod is a constant and everything around it changes. This is a Porto restaurant dish from the 1960s, invented at the Restaurante Zé do Pipo and now cooked at home all over the north. What marks it out is the lid of mayonnaise, which browns into something closer to a gratin crust than a sauce.
2. Soak the cod in cold water in the refrigerator for 48 hours, changing the water four times a day. Thick loin needs all of it. Drain.
3. Poach the cod in the milk with the bay leaves over the lowest heat for 12 minutes — the milk should never bubble. Lift it out, let it cool a little, then break it into large flakes, discarding skin and bones. Keep the milk.
4. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes until completely soft, drain and dry them in the pan for a minute over low heat. Mash them with the butter, the egg yolk, 100 ml of the reserved poaching milk, the salt and white pepper, until smooth and stiff enough to pipe.
5. Meanwhile cook the onions in the olive oil over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until they are meltingly soft and golden. Do not rush this to fifteen minutes; the sweetness of the onion is what balances the salt of the cod.
6. Heat the oven to 200C (390F). Spread the onions in a baking dish, lay the cod flakes over them, and pipe or spoon a border of the potato purée around the edge. Cover the cod in the centre with the mayonnaise in an even layer.
7. Bake 15 minutes, until the mayonnaise has puffed and browned in patches and the potato border has taken colour. Scatter the olives over and serve straight from the dish, with a green wine from Vinho Verde.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Cajun Spaghetti — Cajun/Creole
• Spinach Artichoke Baked Pasta — Italian-American
• Laulau (Pork and Butterfish in Luau Leaves) — American · Hawaiian
• Tielle Sétoise — French · Languedoc
• Bonito Garlic Steak — Japanese

Keep reading: what richness, salinity, umami mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.