Bacalao

JasonD

Bronze
Feb 10, 2018
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Why is Bacaloa such delicatessen in the DR, I have not seen such euphoria for it at any other LA country?
 

ju10prd

On Vacation!
Nov 19, 2014
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Why is Bacaloa such delicatessen in the DR, I have not seen such euphoria for it at any other LA country?

Cheap source of protein when mixed in moro rice, and quite enjoyable for once in long while.

Not so sure of euphoria from my experiences even in deepest campo.

Now if we were talking saltfish(the same) and ackee that is something to excite the taste buds....but it is a Jamaican dish and supposedly a favourite of my Queen.
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
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Far away from normal, normal is rice and beans. Bacaloa has an entire different dimension in the DR.

lol, different dimenson. They sell thousands of lbs per week, hardly unusual. Urenke is also eaten on a regular basis. It is cheap so I suppose that for really poor people it is not eaten very often.
 

mofongoloco

Silver
Feb 7, 2013
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salt cod is expensive here in Boston.  like 10 dollars a pound or more.  it is possible to find small pieces for slightly less.  but not cheap here.  definitely more than ground beef or chicken.  

I prefer bone in.  
 

frank12

Gold
Sep 6, 2011
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I highly recommend that anyone who wants to understand Bacalao, and its relationship to not only the DR, but to the rest of the world, please read this: "Cod: A Biography of a Fish that Changed the World."

The book has won many awards. I read the book at work in Norway while eating Cod and Salmon every single day.

"A delightful romp through history with all its economic forces laid bare, Cod is the biography of a single species of fish, but it may as well be a world history with this humble fish as its recurring main character. Cod, it turns out, is the reason Europeans set sail across the Atlantic, and it is the only reason they could. What did the Vikings eat in icy Greenland and on the five expeditions to America recorded in the Icelandic sagas? Cod, frozen and dried in the frosty air, then broken into pieces and eaten like hardtack. What was the staple of the medieval diet? Cod again, sold salted by the Basques, an enigmatic people with a mysterious, unlimited supply of cod. As we make our way through the centuries of cod history, we also find a delicious legacy of recipes, and the tragic story of environmental failure, of depleted fishing stocks where once their numbers were legendary. In this lovely, thoughtful history, Mark Kurlansky ponders the question: Is the fish that changed the world forever changed by the world's folly?"

https://www.amazon.com/Cod-Biograph...3503555&sr=8-1&keywords=cod+by+mark+kurlansky
 

mofongoloco

Silver
Feb 7, 2013
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read it.

there's another one about coffee and its effect on society.  our most recently introduced foodstuff.
 

frank12

Gold
Sep 6, 2011
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The same man, Mark Kurlansky, also wrote another book call Salt: A world history.

It also won numerous awards. I read Salt first, and then read Cod second. I highly recommend both books. And if you live on the North Coast, i sold most of my boxes of books (hundreds of books)--including Cod & Salt, to some DR1 members here, "Retirees."

If they still live on the north coast, they probably could loan you the books for free.

https://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0142001619/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
 

Ecoman1949

Born to Ride.
Oct 17, 2015
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The same man, Mark Kurlansky, also wrote another book call Salt: A world history.

It also won numerous awards. I read Salt first, and then read Cod second. I highly recommend both books. And if you live on the North Coast, i sold most of my boxes of books (hundreds of books)--including Cod & Salt, to some DR1 members here, "Retirees."

If they still live on the north coast, they probably could loan you the books for free.

https://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0142001619/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8



Frank,
My province Newfoundland was founded on cod. When the stocks were first discovered on the Grand Banks and word got back to Europe, nations like France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, etc. sent their fishing fleets to our shores to catch and salt the fish in order to ship it back home. Eventually they developed settlements in my province to stake their claims on the cod fishing grounds. I still remember walking the wharf on Water Street in St.Johns, the oldest European founded city in North America and seeing the Portuguese white fishing fleet tied up taking on supplies before heading back home with their holds full of bacalao. The word bacalao is Portuguese in origin. The French name if Baccalieu. Salt cod made its way to the Cartibbean Islands including the RD in many ways. The Rum trade was one of the main ways. Salt cod left Atlantic Canada in schooners that followed the Trade winds to the islands. Rum for fish. Not a bad deal in my estimation. Fortunes were made during the Rum Trade. Cod in all forms is a staple in my province. Ask for fish and chips here and it’s always cod. We have a dish called Fish and Brewis. Boiled salt cod, boiled hardtack (bread developed for the British Royal Navy) and scrunchions( fat back pork sliced and diced and fried to render out the fat. Hard on the arteries but good Newfoundland soul food. I’ve seen small portions of salt cod available in Luperon and a few other places. The quality wasn’t great. 
 

Ecoman1949

Born to Ride.
Oct 17, 2015
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salt cod is expensive here in Boston.  like 10 dollars a pound or more.  it is possible to find small pieces for slightly less.  but not cheap here.  definitely more than ground beef or chicken.  

I prefer bone in.  

Cod is now a by catch in Atlantic Canada since the moratorium in the 90’s. Stocks in some areas are rebounding and a limited food fishery is allowed twice a year in my area. It’s a bit more expensive here but not 10 dollars a pound. My favourite dish is Cod Au Gratin. Fresh cod, onions, cream, a topping of grated cheese and baked in the oven. I add Greek seasoning and a dash of olive oil and lemon juice to give it a kick. Anybody ever see cod Au Gratin on the menus in any RD restaurants?