Skip to main content
Main

Portugese Bacalhau Com Nata Feito À Moda Da Enca Mello

A Portuguese cod dish with onions, potatoes, and a creamy sauce.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Portugese Bacalhau Com Nata Feito À Moda Da Enca Mello

Oven450°F, then 350°F
Time15 minutes, then 25 minutes longer

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cod

  1. Soak the salt cod in the refrigerator for 24 hours (or better yet, 48 hours) in several changes of cold water.

  2. Drain the cod, rinse, and drain well again.

  3. Remove bones and skin, and with your fingers pull the cod into small shreds; set aside.

Cook the onion, potatoes and cod

  1. In a large heavy skillet set over very low heat, sauté the onion in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil about 15 minutes until very soft and golden, stirring now and then.

  2. Meanwhile, stir‑fry the potatoes in the remaining oil in a second large heavy skillet over moderately low heat about 2 minutes until they begin to color; add the water, turn the heat to its lowest point, cover, and cook 15 minutes; set off the heat and reserve, still covered.

  3. As soon as the onions are softly golden, mix in the cod and 1/2 cup of the milk, cover, and cook over lowest heat, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

Make the white sauce

  1. While the cod cooks, prepare a white sauce: Melt the butter in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat and blend in the flour; add the remaining milk and heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth — about 3 minutes.

  2. Blend in the white pepper and reserve.

Bake and serve

  1. When the cod has only 10 minutes more to cook, preheat the oven to very hot (450).

  2. When the cod is done, mix in the potatoes, white sauce, and cream.

  3. Transfer to a buttered shallow 3‑quart earthenware casserole or au gratin pan.

  4. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes, lower the oven temperature to moderate (350), and bake uncovered 25 minutes longer or until bubbly and tipped with brown. Serve at once.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1295Calories
47 gProtein
53 gFat
156 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Salmon100g cooked208
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Olive + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,458 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Onion + olivetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Salt cod
Provides the main flaky, savoury body of the dish once soaked and shredded.
Potatoes
Soften and thicken the mixture, giving it a creamy, starchy texture.
Milk
Forms the base of the white sauce, adding moisture and a smooth, creamy texture.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk into a white sauce that binds the dish.
Heavy cream
Adds richness and fat, making the baked dish creamy and silky.
Olive oil
Cooks the onion gently and adds fat and flavour to the base.

The step that matters

Cooking the white sauce smooth. Flour must be cooked with the melted butter and whisked constantly as the milk is added; otherwise lumps form and the sauce does not thicken evenly.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, olive, potato, milk, butter, flour, cream):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Nutmegfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, olive, potato, milk, butter, flour, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Potato CroquettesPotato Croquettes255 recipesPotato RollsPotato Rolls78 recipesPotato ChipsPotato Chips53 recipesSweet Potato CroquettesSweet Potato Croquettes53 recipes