Croquetas de Bacalao del País Vasco

Croquetas de bacalao del País Vasco belong to the northern habit of making salt cod go far and taste generous. This is not a croqueta with a little fish hiding in milk paste. The bacalao is desalted slowly, flaked cleanly, and folded through a thick bechamel so every bite tastes of cod, olive oil, onion, and a quiet scrape of nutmeg.

The method that decides it is the bechamel. Cook the flour in the oil and butter until it smells nutty, then add the milk little by little and keep stirring until the paste pulls away from the pan. Too loose, and the croquetas burst in the oil. Thick and rested cold, they roll easily, fry cleanly, and come out creamy inside. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

If you are far from a Basque market, buy good salt cod from a Portuguese, Italian, Caribbean, or Latin shop and desalt it yourself. If you can only find already-desalted frozen bacalao, use it, but dry it very well and taste before salting the filling. What you must not use is fresh cod and pretend it is the same thing. It makes a pleasant fish croqueta, yes, but not this one.

My Margin has the warning in very plain words: chill the masa longer than you think. The filling needs time to set and taste of itself. Nadie nace sabiendo, nobody is born knowing, but this is one of those dishes where patience does half the cooking for you.