Cook and Scale
Bacalao al Pil-Pil (Basque Cod in Garlic Oil Emulsion)
2 servings · 40 min total
Salt cod poached in barely warm olive oil, then swirled with its own gelatin into a glossy pale garlic sauce. Four ingredients and one piece of technique.
Ingredients
- 400 g salt cod, thick loin pieces, desalted 36 hours in several changes of cold water
- 2½ dl olive oil
- 8 garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 fresh chilli, sliced into thin rings
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp water, cold
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Contains: Fish
Allergen info is best-effort — please verify yourself.
Method
- 1.
Dry and taste the cod — Pat the desalted cod completely dry and taste a small flake — it should be pleasantly seasoned, not salty. Leave the skin on: the gelatin under it is the only thing that will thicken the sauce.
- 2.
Fry the garlic gently — Pour the olive oil into a wide shallow earthenware dish or a heavy pan and add the sliced garlic and chilli. Set over low heat and fry very gently for about 5 minutes, until the garlic is pale gold — any browner and it turns bitter. Lift the garlic and chilli out with a slotted spoon and reserve.
- 3.
Cool the oil down — Let the oil cool until it is only just warm, around 60 °C — you should be able to hold a finger in it for a second. Slide the cod in skin-side down in a single layer; it must never sizzle.
- 4.
Confit the cod — Poach at the barest trembling heat for about 8 minutes, spooning the oil over the top now and then, until the flesh turns opaque and separates into flakes. White gelatin will bead up around the pieces — that is exactly what you want.
- 5.
Emulsify the pil-pil — Lift out the cod and keep it warm. Pour most of the oil into a jug, leaving the cloudy gelatinous juices in the pan. Off the heat, swirl the pan in steady circles while trickling the warm oil back in a thin thread. Within a couple of minutes the juices turn pale, thick and glossy, like a loose mayonnaise; add the cold water a few drops at a time if it ever looks like splitting.
- 6.
Spoon the sauce over — Return the cod to the pan, spoon the pil-pil over each piece, and scatter with the reserved garlic, chilli and the parsley. Grind over black pepper, check the salt and serve straight from the dish while the sauce is still warm and creamy.