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Recipe

Meia-Desfeita (Author Version)

Serves

10

Active Time

25 MIN

Origin

ALENTEJO

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Meia-Desfeita (Author Version)

During tomato season, there are no bad cooks.

— PORTUGUESE SAYING

Combining cod with olive oil is an obvious and indispensable gesture that brings me pure pleasure. No one knows how to cook cod like we Portuguese do; this is recognized worldwide. What I don't know is if you notice that we never separate it from its two best friends: olive oil and garlic.

THE RECIPE

Ingredients

Serves 10

  1. Garlic — 3 cloves
  2. Onion — 200 g
  3. Codfish (Bacalhau) — 800 g
  4. Chickpeas (Grão-de-bico) — 1.100 kg
  5. Extra virgin olive oil — 0.5 dl
  6. Paprika (Colorau) — as needed (q.b.)
  7. Chives (Cebolinho) — as needed (q.b.)
  8. Sea salt — as needed (q.b.)
  9. Fleur de sel — as needed (q.b.)
  10. Boiled eggs — 5
  11. Vinegar — 1 dl
  12. Muscovado sugar — 25 g
  13. For the parsley oil:
  14. Parsley (Salsa) — 180 g
  15. Extra virgin olive oil — 2 dl
  16. Milled pepper — as needed (q.b.)
  17. Fleur de sel — as needed (q.b.)

Preparation

Cook the codfish in water seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and onion. Clean the cod of skin and bones and break it into flakes. Separately, cook the previously soaked chickpeas in water seasoned with salt and extra virgin olive oil. Reserve a few whole chickpeas and reduce the remaining into a puree using a food mill (passe vite). Add a little of the cod cooking water to this puree and mix well. In a small saucepan, melt the sugar, pour in the vinegar, and let it boil and reduce to obtain a smooth syrup. In a blender cup, blend the garlic, onion, the hard-boiled egg white, and a thread of extra virgin olive oil. Run it until a well-bound emulsion is formed. Fry the reserved whole chickpeas in a little olive oil and sprinkle with fleur de sel.

For the parsley oil:

Blanch the parsley and blend it with the olive oil in a blender cup. Season with salt and pepper.

Presentation

Arrange the puree at one end of the plate and the cod flakes at the other. Season the cod with the garlic and onion emulsion, the parsley oil, and the vinegar reduction. Sprinkle with the chopped hard-boiled egg yolk. The chickpea puree is dusted with sweet paprika and chopped chives. Finally, garnish with the fried chickpeas.

Olive Oil Suggestion:

Cooking the cod and chickpeas can be done with mild olive oils, such as those from Ribatejo, Northern Alentejo, or the Beiras. Frying the chickpeas can be done with "virgin olive oil" or "olive oil". Emulsify to taste with identical olive oils to the cooking, fruity and sweet, or, on the contrary, with more pronounced fruity, bitter, and pungent olive oils, such as those from Moura or Trás-os-Montes.