Bacalao a la Veracruzana

Veracruz owns this pot. The Gulf port took salt cod from Atlantic trade, tomatoes from Mexican soil, olives and capers from Spanish ships, and turned them into a December dish that tastes like Nochebuena on the coast. Esto no es comida de un solo Mexico. This is a 32-state cuisine.

The cod has to be soaked for two days. No me vengas con atajos. Salt cod is not fresh fish with salt sprinkled on top. It is preserved fish, stiff and sharp with salt, and you bring it back slowly with cold water changes until the flesh flakes cleanly without punishing your tongue. The sauce is Veracruzana: tomato, onion, garlic, olive oil, bay leaf, Mexican oregano, olives, capers, almonds, potatoes, and chile guero en escabeche. Notice what I did not say: hot. Not all Mexican food is trying to burn you.

I learned this version from a woman near the Mercado Hidalgo in Veracruz, who cooked it in a wide clay cazuela and served it with bolillos for chasing the sauce around the plate. She told me the olive oil matters because this dish belongs to the port, not the ranch. She was right. Cada estado, su propia cocina.