Dried and salted cod

Traditionally, salt cod was dried only by the wind and the sun, hanging on wooden scaffolding or lying on clean cliffs or rocks near the seaside.

The resulting product was easily transported to market, and salt cod became a staple item in the diet of the populations of Catholic countries on 'meatless' Fridays and during Lent.

[2] The British also developed a system of drying cod from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland during the summer, which was called "habardine" or "poor john".

[5] Some of these are: bacalhau (salgado) (Portuguese), bacalao salado (Spanish), bacallau salgado (Galician), bakailao (Basque), bacallà salat i assecat or bacallà salat (Catalan), μπακαλιάρος, bakaliáros (Greek), Klippfisch (German), morue salée (French), baccalà (Italian), bacałà (Venetian), bakalar (Croatian), bakkeljauw (Surinamese Dutch), bakaljaw (Maltese), makayabu (Central and East Africa), and kapakala (Finnish).

Other names include ráktoguolli/goikeguolli (Sami), klipfisk (Danish) klippfisk/kabeljo (Swedish), stokvis/klipvis (Netherlandish Dutch), saltfiskur [ˈsal̥tˌfɪskʏr̥] (Icelandic), morue (French), bartolitius (Canadian), and saltfish (Anglophone I Caribbean).

Traditionally the fish was sun-dried on rocks or wooden frames, but modern commercial production is mainly dried indoors with electrical heating.

Since then products sold as salt cod may be derived from other whitefish, such as pollock, haddock, blue whiting, ling and tusk.

In South America, catfish of the genera Pseudoplatystoma are used to produce a salted, dried and frozen product typically sold around Lent.

In Europe, the fish is prepared for the table in a wide variety of ways,[6] most commonly with potatoes and onions in a casserole, as croquettes, or as battered, deep-fried pieces.

In France, brandade de morue is a popular baked gratin dish of potatoes mashed with rehydrated salted cod, seasoned with garlic and olive oil.

In the Dominican Republic it is typically stewed in a heavy tomato sauce and oregano base or served on Lent with boiled eggs, potatoes, sliced raw red onion and bell peppers.

In Liverpool, England, prior to the post-war slum clearances, especially around the docks,[9] salt fish was a popular traditional Sunday morning breakfast.