Every Portuguese café counter has a tray of them, lined up like small golden rugby balls under a glass dome. They are called pastéis de bacalhau in Lisbon and the south and bolinhos de bacalhau in the north, and whatever the name they are eaten the same way: standing up, with a cold beer or a coffee, often at an hour when nobody is really asking whether it is lunch. They work as a snack before a meal or, with rice and salad, as the meal itself, and they are just as good cold the next day, which is more than can be said for most fried food.

The method is a lesson in using every scrap of the country's favorite fish. Salt cod is soaked for a day or two to draw out the salt, poached briefly, then rubbed in a cloth until it falls into fine threads. Those threads are beaten into dry mashed potato with egg and parsley, and the mixture is passed between two spoons into three sided ovals before it meets the hot oil. The ragged surface from the spoons is not a flaw; it is where the crunch lives.

The salt cod

Ingredients

• 12 oz (350 g) thick salt cod fillet
• plenty cold water

Method

1. Rinse the surface salt off the cod under cold running water. Put it in the large bowl, cover with plenty of cold water and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours, pouring off the water and adding fresh 3 or 4 times a day.
2. Put the soaked cod in the medium saucepan, cover with fresh cold water and bring it slowly to a gentle simmer over medium heat. As soon as it simmers, turn off the heat and leave the fish in the water for 10 minutes. Lift it out and let it cool until you can handle it.
3. Pull off and throw away all the skin and every bone, checking carefully with your fingers. Put the flakes in the middle of the clean towel, gather it up into a bundle and rub the bundle firmly between your hands for a minute or two, as if washing a cloth by hand.

The potato mixture

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) floury potatoes
• 1 small yellow onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• a pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• to taste salt

Method

1. Put the whole unpeeled potatoes in the large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on size, until a knife slides into the center with no resistance. Drain and leave them in the colander for 5 minutes so the steam can escape.
2. Peel the potatoes while still warm, holding them in a towel, and push them through the ricer into the large mixing bowl, or mash them until completely smooth. Do not add butter, milk or water. Let the mash cool for 10 minutes.
3. Add the shredded cod, onion, garlic and parsley to the potato and beat with the wooden spoon until evenly mixed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating hard after each until fully absorbed. Season with the pepper and nutmeg, taste, and add salt only if it needs it.

Shaping and frying

Ingredients

• about 8 cups (2 liters) vegetable or sunflower oil
• 1 lemon

Method

1. Pour the oil into the heavy pot to a depth of about 3 inches (7.5 cm), filling it no more than halfway, and heat over medium heat until the thermometer reads 350°F (175°C).
2. Take a heaped spoonful of the mixture in one spoon. With the second spoon, scrape it from the first, turning it as you go, then scrape it back again. Repeat three or four times until you have a smooth oval with three flat sides and pointed ends, about 2 1/2 inches (6 cm) long.
3. Slide each fritter off the spoon straight into the hot oil, frying 5 or 6 at a time so the pot is not crowded. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them with the slotted spoon so they color evenly. Lift onto the paper towels and fry the rest, letting the oil come back to 350°F (175°C) between batches.

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