Bacalao a la Manresana

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Nonreactive container large enough to soak the cod
• •Wide shallow casserole, about 28cm
• •Heavy frying pan, about 28cm
• •Small saucepan
• •Fine colander

Instructions

1. 1

   Desalt the cod

   Put the dry-salted cod skin side up in a nonreactive container and cover it with at least 2 liters of cold water. Refrigerate for 48 hours. Leave the first water for 24 hours, then replace it every 8 hours three times. Drain, pat completely dry and check the thickest piece before cooking. If using ready-desalted cod, dry it well and begin with the next step.

   To check the salt safely, cut off a thin sliver and simmer it in plain water for 30 seconds before tasting. If the center is still fiercely salty, give the cod another 8 hours in fresh cold water.
2. 2

   Plump fruit and eggs

   Put the prunes, raisins and moscatell in a small saucepan. Warm just until small bubbles appear at the edge, take it off the heat and leave for 20 minutes. Drain the fruit over a bowl and keep every drop of wine. Meanwhile, lower the eggs into boiling water, cook for 9 minutes, cool under running water, peel and quarter them.

3. 3

   Build the sofregit

   Warm 20ml of the olive oil in a wide shallow casserole over low heat. Add the onion and cook for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until dark gold, soft and jammy. Add half the sliced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Keep the heat patient. Pale onion gives a thin sauce, and burnt onion gives a bitter one.

4. 4

   Cook the spinach

   While the onion cooks, toast the pine nuts in a dry 28cm frying pan over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, moving them constantly, then tip them onto a plate. Add 20ml olive oil and the remaining garlic to the pan. Once the garlic smells sweet, add the spinach in batches. Turn it until wilted, 4 to 5 minutes, then cook until no watery puddle remains. Stir in 30g of the drained raisins, 20g of the pine nuts and the 1g salt. Transfer to a dish and keep covered.

5. 5

   Finish the fruit sauce

   Pour the reserved moscatell into the dark-gold onion and raise the heat to medium. Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, until reduced by about half and no longer sharply alcoholic. Add the water, prunes and remaining 20g raisins. Simmer gently for another 5 minutes. The sauce should taste rounded but not syrupy. Do not add salt yet.

6. 6

   Brown the cod

   Spread the flour on a plate and coat the dried cod lightly, tapping away every loose patch. Heat the remaining 40ml olive oil in the frying pan over medium heat. Lay in the cod skin side down and cook without disturbing it for 3 to 4 minutes, until the skin is lightly golden. Turn carefully and cook the flesh side for 1 minute. The center should still be underdone.

7. 7

   Give the cod five minutes

   Set the cod skin side up in the finished fruit sauce. Spoon a little sauce around it, cover loosely and cook over low heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Shake the casserole once or twice instead of stirring. Stop when the cod separates into broad moist flakes under gentle pressure and the sauce lightly coats a spoon. Taste the sauce now, after the fish has seasoned it, and add no further salt unless it truly needs it.

   If the sauce thickens before the cod is ready, add water 15ml at a time. If it is thin, lift out the cod and reduce the sauce briefly on its own. Don't make the fish wait in a boiling pan.
8. 8

   Assemble and serve

   Spread the spinach across a warmed serving platter. Set the cod on top and spoon over the prunes, raisins, onion and moscatell sauce. Finish with the remaining 10g toasted pine nuts and arrange the egg quarters around the fish. Serve at once, with bread for the sauce. Tal como se hace allí.

Chef Tips

• •Choose thick center-cut salt cod loin with an even white cure and no yellow edges. Thin tail pieces desalt and cook too quickly for this dish.
• •Ready-desalted salt cod is a sound shortcut. It may still carry more salt than you expect, so cook a small sliver and taste it before the pan sees the rest.
• •No Spanish moscatell where you are? Use another naturally sweet Muscat wine. Don't replace it with dry wine and a fistful of sugar; that gives sweetness without the floral grape aroma that belongs in the sauce.
• •Fresh mature spinach has more body than baby leaves. Frozen leaf spinach is the practical substitute: use 450g, thaw it fully and squeeze out the excess water. It will be softer, but it won't spoil the dish.
• •Pine nuts are dear, but only 30g are needed and their resinous sweetness matters here. Slivered almonds make a good plate of cod, but it is no longer quite bacallà a la manresana.
• •A dry Picapoll blanc from Pla de Bages is the local bottle to pour alongside. Its acidity keeps the moscatell and dried fruit from making the meal feel heavy.

Advance Preparation

• •Begin desalting dry salt cod 48 hours before cooking and keep it refrigerated throughout. Ready-desalted cod removes this waiting time.
• •The prunes and raisins can be soaked in moscatell up to 12 hours ahead. Refrigerate the fruit and reserved wine together, then bring them to room temperature before cooking.
• •The spinach mixture and sofregit can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead and refrigerated separately. Warm both gently before finishing the fish.
• •Leftovers keep for up to 2 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. Reheat over very low heat with 15 to 30ml water, just until warmed through, or the cod will tighten.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 440g)