Athenian Bakaliaros Tiganitos me Skordalia (Μπακαλιάρος Τηγανητός με Σκορδαλιά)

Athenian bakaliaros tiganitos is salt cod fried in a pale, puffed batter and eaten with skordalia, the sharp garlic purée that wakes the whole plate. On the 25th of March, when the Annunciation opens one fish day inside Lent, this is the dish you smell from stairwells and tavern kitchens before noon.

The whole thing depends on dryness. Desalt the cod properly, then dry it harder than seems polite, because wet fish makes batter slide off and oil spit. A dry surface lets the flour catch, the batter cling, and the outside fry crisp while the cod stays white and flaky inside. That is the one method that decides it.

I give you the potato skordalia common on the Athenian table: potatoes, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and patience. It should be sharp enough to stand up to the salt cod, not so harsh it bites twice. My grandmother Despina made the bread version in Thessaloniki sometimes, but for this plate, the potato one sits steady beside the fish and holds its place.