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Salt Cod and Potato Casserole

A Portuguese casserole of salt cod, potatoes, onions, olives and hard-boiled eggs, baked in layers with olive oil.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Salt Cod and Potato Casserole

Oven400°F/200°C
Timeabout 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cod

  1. Starting the day before, soak the salt cod, refrigerated, in a container of water for 16–24 hours, changing the water 3–4 times.

  2. Drain and rinse the cod.

  3. Place the cod in a saucepan and fill with water to cover the fish by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

  4. Drain thoroughly and flake the fish coarsely, removing any skin or bones with a paring knife. Set aside.

Prepare the potatoes and onions

  1. Boil the potatoes in their skins until easily pierced with a fork or skewer but not soft. Drain, cool and peel. Slice into ¼-inch (6 mm) slices. Set aside.

  2. In a heavy frying-pan, heat ½ cup of olive oil over medium high heat for two minutes. Add the sliced onion and sauté for about 6–7 minutes until the onions are translucent and slightly brown. Stir in the garlic and remove from the heat.

Assemble and bake

  1. To assemble, lay half the potatoes in the bottom of a casserole. Cover them with half the cod and then half the onion. Repeat with the rest and drizzle the rest of the olive oil over the top.

  2. Bake for about 20 minutes in a 400°F/200°C oven until the top is lightly browned.

  3. Garnish with olives and hard-boiled egg slices. Sprinkle with parsley.

  4. Serve from the casserole with a cruet of olive oil and port vinegar on the side.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

619Calories
32 gProtein
32 gFat
49 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Salmon100g cooked208
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Olive1 large (4g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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 Wikibooks Cookbook.

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 + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

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

  4. Garlic + potatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,517 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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 protein once soaked to remove salt.
Potatoes
Add starchy body and soak up the oil and onion flavour in the layers.
Onions
Cooked slowly in oil until sweet and soft, adding depth and moisture to the dish.
Olive oil
Carries flavour and adds richness, coating the onions and layers as they bake.
Hard-boiled eggs
Add creamy texture and a mild richness when sliced over the top.
Garlic
Adds aroma and pungency that mellows during the brief cooking in oil.

The step that matters

Soaking the salt cod. Salt cod must soak long enough, with the water changed several times, to draw out excess salt. Too little soaking leaves the fish overly salty and tough, while the flesh needs careful handling to stay moist and flaky.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, garlic, potato, egg, parsley):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Broccolifits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, potato, egg, parsley. 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.

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