The Venerable Confraternity of Vicenza-style cod, born with the aim of safeguarding and spreading the ancient and original recipe for "Bacalà alla Vicentina" which is over 400 years old, suggests a recipe that is the result of studies and comparisons between the numerous recipes in vogue in the most famous restaurants and trattorias in the Vicenza area between the XNUMXs and XNUMXs without demonizing the variations currently in service.
Ingredients for 12 people:
1 kg of dry stockfish
gr. 250/300 of onions
1/2 liter of extra virgin olive oil
3 salted sardines
½ liter of fresh milk – a little white flour
gr. 50 of grated Parmesan cheese
a sprig of chopped parsley
salt and pepper
Preparation
Soak the well-beaten stockfish in cold water, changing it every 4 hours, for 2-3 days.
Open the fish lengthwise, remove the bone and all the bones. Cut it into pieces.
Finely slice the onions; brown them in a pan with a glass of oil, add the salted sardines, cut into small pieces; finally, with the heat off, add the chopped parsley.
Flour the various pieces of stockfish, sprinkle with the prepared sauté, then arrange them side by side in a terracotta or aluminum pan or in a baking dish (on whose bottom you first pour a few spoonfuls of sauté); cover the fish with the rest of the sautéed mixture, also adding the milk, grated parmesan, salt and pepper.
Add the oil to coat all the pieces, leveling them.
Cook over a very low heat for about four and a half hours, occasionally moving the container in a circular motion, without ever stirring.
This cooking phase, in the "Vicenza" term is called "pipare".
Only experience will be able to define the exact cooking of the stockfish which, from specimen to specimen, may differ in consistency.
Bacalà alla vicentina is excellent even after resting for 12/24 hours. Serve with polenta.
