Recipe for Salt Cod Fritters from our Spain Cooking Vacations

In honor of our new virtual cooking class in Madrid offered with our friend and partner Mireia, we’re exploring one of our favorite Spanish tapas dishes: salt cod fritters. Salt cod has a long history in Europe, including in the Mediterranean basin. It might seem odd to some – where this so much fresh seafood and fish to be harvested from the sea, why develop a culinary tradition around dried, salted cod hailing from Northern Europe and the North Atlantic? But salt cod could be kept for long periods of time without spoiling. This made it ideal not only for fisherman and maritime explorers needing to feed themselves on long voyages, but also for transporting to markets far away.

Cod has for some thousand years been traditionally dried by the wind and sun, with the resulting dried fish known as “stockfish.” (Read this fascinating history of stockfish, salt cod, and their influence on the trans-Atlantic and Caribbean slave trade and economy.) When salt was added to the process, it enabled the fish to be cured and dried more easily, and regardless of climate. In Spain, as in other Catholic countries, it became in particular a staple for Friday meals, when meat was to be avoided. Today there are numerous recipes in Spanish, Italian, French, and particularly Portuguese cuisine that use salt cod. This one is a simple but delicious fried salt cod fritter. It is important when making any salt cod dish to first soak and rinse the cod. It is an easy task – simply soak in cold water and change the water two or three times a day. But this step can take several days, so be sure to plan accordingly. It is not a step that you can rush, unless you want a tough and super-salty dish! Browse our culinary tours in Spain and Portugal.