Bacalhau a Bras

Ingredients

• 400g salt cod, desalted, or 450g fresh cod loin
• 500g floury potatoes, peeled
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 8 large eggs
• 100ml olive oil, plus 700ml for frying the potatoes
• 16 black olives, ideally Portuguese
• 1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Black pepper
• Salt

Before you cook

• If using salt cod, soak it in cold water in the fridge for 36 hours, changing the water four times.
• Drain the cod, squeeze it dry and pull it into fine shreds with your fingers, discarding skin and bones.
• Peel the potatoes and cut them into matchsticks 3mm thick and about 6cm long.
• Rinse the potato matchsticks in cold water until it runs clear, then dry them thoroughly in a tea towel.
• Slice the onions and garlic thinly.
• Chop the parsley and crack the eggs into a bowl.

Steps

1. Heat the 700ml of oil in a deep pan to 170C.
2. Fry the potato matchsticks in three batches for 3 to 4 minutes each until crisp and pale gold.
3. Lift each batch onto kitchen paper and season it with a little salt.
4. Pour off the frying oil and wipe the pan clean.
5. Warm the 100ml of olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium-low heat.
6. Add the sliced onions and cook them for 12 minutes, stirring often, until soft and translucent but not coloured.
7. Stir in the sliced garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.
8. Add the shredded cod and turn it through the onions for 4 minutes until it is opaque and hot.
9. Beat the eggs with plenty of black pepper and only a small pinch of salt, since the cod carries its own.
10. Tip the fried potatoes into the pan and fold them through the cod and onion.
11. Turn the heat down to low.
12. Pour the beaten egg over everything and count to five before touching it.
13. Fold the mixture slowly with a spatula, lifting from the bottom, for 60 to 90 seconds.
14. Take the pan off the heat the moment the egg has just set into soft creamy curds and still looks slightly wet.
15. Scatter over the chopped parsley and dot the olives around the edge.
16. Serve straight from the pan, because it stiffens as it sits.