Why is “bacalhau” called the faithful friend in Portugal?

Bacalhau is cod, but almost never fresh: it arrives salted and dried, stiff as a board, and has to be soaked back to life before cooking. Portugal is famously devoted to salted cod, especially at Christmas, and nicknames it o fiel amigo, “the faithful friend,” because it kept for months at sea. Cooks love to say there is a recipe for every day of the year.

The classics are worth recognising on a menu: bacalhau à Brás (shredded, with straw potatoes and egg), à Gomes de Sá, com natas, and pataniscas (fritters). The cuts have their own names — lombos (loins), lascas (flakes), línguas (tongues). A large share of the year’s consumption falls around Christmas, when salt cod is the traditional Christmas Eve supper.