The Baccalà is a stockfish, or dried cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. The Venerabile confraternita del Bacalà alla vicentina suggests a recipe that is the result of studies and comparisons between many recipes in vogue in the most famous restaurants and taverns in the Vicenza province between the thirties and fifties, without demonizing variants currently in service.
Soak the dried cod, already well beaten, in cold water, changing it every 4 hours for 2-3 days.
Are you still with us? Ok, then open the fish lengthwise, remove the bones and all plugs. Cut it into pieces.
Chop the onions finely and fry it in a pan with a cup of oil. Add the salted anchovies, and cut them into small pieces. At last, turn off the heat and add the chopped parsley.
Take a terracotta or aluminum pan, or in any case something heat resistant and pour in the bottom of it a few tablespoons of the fried mixture.
Flour the pieces of dried cod, sprayed with the fried mixture, then place them side by side, in that pan. Cover the fish with the remaining of the mixture and add the milk, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper.
Add the oil to coat all pieces, leveling them. Cook for about four hours and a half (low heat), moving each time the container in a circular motion. Never mix. In Vicenza this cooking step is called pipare (to pipe).
Only the experience will define the exact cooking of dried cod that, from specimen to specimen, may differ in consistency. The Baccalà of Vicenza is also great after a rest of 12/24 hours. Serve it with polenta.
The proteins of cod possess a high biological value, containing all the essential amino acids. In contrast with this optimal allocation protein, carbohydrates or glucids are completely absent.
The lipids are qualitatively interesting. Among the vitamins present in cod, stand out, such as abundance, PP and vitamin B1. It lacks of vitamin C. Notable among the minerals in the salt cod, richness in calcium and phosphate. Before the drying process, fresh cod is separated from the liver, from which the cod liver oil, rich in vitamin D, derives.
The corn-mill mush, without vitamin PP and low in essential amino acids, of which the cod is rich, compensates for the lack of carbohydrates of the latter.
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