baccalà

As in many southern Catholic countries in the days before refrigeration, salt and wind-dried cod played an important role in the diet, even in coastal communities.

There is some confusion in the names: in the Veneto and elsewhere, some people insist on calling dried cod baccalá and salt cod stoccafisso, instead of the other way around. Sometimes they call it batacin.

Among classic recipes you'll find the most famous dish from Vicenza:

baccalà alla vicentina: in spite of its name, this dish traditionally used dried cod (stock fish or stoccofisso), which was sprinkled with cheese and browned with butter, oil, anchovies and onions, and seasoned with parsley, pepper and milk, and served with slice of polenta.

Other popular recipes include:

baccalà conso: salt cod with tomato sauce, a speciality of Venice.