🐟 Baccalà fritto
Baccalà fritto is desalted salt cod cut into strips, dipped in a light batter of flour, egg and water and deep-fried until crisp and golden. The coating shatters when bitten, while the fish inside stays moist and flaky. It is served hot with lemon wedges, as street food in Rome, as a starter, or as part of a festive fish meal.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 600 g salt cod fillets, desalted for 36–48 hours
- 150 g flour
- 1 egg
- About 200 ml cold sparkling water
- Oil for deep-frying
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
Method
- Desalt the cod in cold water in the fridge for 36–48 hours, changing the water every 8 hours. Pat dry, remove skin and bones and cut into strips about 4 cm wide.
- Whisk the flour, egg and cold sparkling water into a smooth batter the thickness of single-coat paint. Rest 10 minutes.
- Heat the oil to 175 °C. Dip the cod strips in the batter and fry a few at a time for 4–5 minutes, turning once, until crisp and golden.
- Drain on paper and serve hot with lemon wedges.
How to make it lighter
- Deep-frying adds a lot of fat: let the strips drain well and serve them straight away while the crust is crisp.
- For a lighter version, dust the cod in flour, dip in beaten egg and bake on an oiled tray at 220 °C for 15 minutes.
- Pair two or three strips with a big salad or roasted vegetables instead of fries.
History
Salt cod has been eaten across Italy for centuries, especially on meatless days in the Catholic calendar. Fried strips of baccalà are a classic of Roman friggitorie and Jewish-Roman cooking, and in Naples and the south they are a fixture of the Christmas Eve dinner, when fish rather than meat is served.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →