TABELIA

AUTHENTIC RECIPE

Baccalà alla VicentinaVicenza-Style Salt Cod

Vicenza-Style Salt Cod
Difficulty★★★☆☆ Prep30 min Cook4 hr Rest72 hr servings4

A distinctive Vicenza specialty of dried salt cod simmered over very low heat for 4 hours with onion, anchovies and milk. Never stirring is essential to keep the fish intact. Serve with polenta.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated
100/ 100

AUTHENTICITY SCORE

Authenticity Score

This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.

Ingredients (4 servings)

  • Soaked salted codSoak in cold water for 3 days, changing the water 2 times every 1 day; leave the skin on800 g
  • White onionThinly sliced into rings300 g
  • Anchovy fillets in oilFinely chopped6 fillets
  • Whole milk500 ml
  • Extra virgin olive oil150 ml
  • Flat-leaf parsleyFinely chopped1 bunch
  • Parmigiano ReggianoGrated40 g

Method

15 min

Chop the ingredients

  • 1 Finely chop the flat-leaf parsley.
  • 2 Finely grate 40 g Parmigiano.
215 min

Prepare the cod

  • 1 Carefully remove the small bones from the cod.
  • 2 Cut the cod into pieces 5 cm wide, leaving the skin on.
318 min

Cook the onions

  • 1 Put the thinly sliced onion rings and half the olive oil (75 ml) in a frying pan and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
  • 2 Add the anchovies and stir, breaking them up.

Ready when

Continue when the onions are translucent and soft.

45 min

Build the layers for braising

  • 1 Spread half the cooked onions over the base of a heavy pot.
  • 2 Arrange the cod tightly together, skin-side down.
  • 3 Sprinkle with parsley and Parmigiano, then top with the remaining onions.

Ready when

Continue when the fish fits in a single layer without overlapping.

54 hr

Simmer very gently

  • 1 Pour in the remaining olive oil (75 ml) and 500 ml whole milk.
  • 2 Cover and simmer over very low heat (around 90°C) for 4 hours.

Ready when

After 4 hours, it is ready when the fish is white and retains its shape without falling apart.

Caution

Never stir. Do not shake the pot either.

63 min

Serve with polenta

  • 1 Check that the fish is white and has not fallen apart.
  • 2 Plate with polenta.
A view of Vicenza
VicenzaItaly Photo: Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized; display cropped)

About this dish

Vicenza is known as the city of the architect Palladio, but its food has a distinctive paradox. Although baccalà alla vicentina bears the name baccalà, meaning salt cod, the fish actually used is stoccafisso, air-dried cod.

At the end of the 15th century, the Venetian nobleman Pietro Querini was shipwrecked on Norway’s island of Røst and brought back the local method of preserving dried cod. Ever since, stoccafisso has become established in Veneto under the name baccalà.

Its preparation is distinctive. Fish soaked for 4–5 days is cooked slowly for several hours at low heat with milk, anchovies, onion and Parmigiano. Each stage demands its own time.

Chef Authen

Bring the full course home next weekend.

Bring every dish to the table at its best.

Choose the dishes you want to cook, and Chef Authen handles the shopping list and the day-of schedule. The Tabelia app turns everything from starter to main into one coordinated course in your kitchen.

  • One shopping listBuilt automatically from your menu and any substitutions, ready to check off.
  • One timelineEvery dish’s waiting and cooking time combined into a single schedule.
  • Answers beyond the recipeFrom judging the heat to adapting on the fly, Chef Authen answers with concrete criteria, not guesses.
Download on the App Store