Bacalao al Chilindrón

Bacalao al chilindrón is Aragonese: firm salt cod laid in a brick-red sauce of sweet pepper, tomato, onion and small pieces of serrano ham. The ham isn't decoration. It gives the sauce its cured depth and marks this as chilindrón, not merely cod with tomato. Nor is it bacalao a la vizcaína, whose foundation is dried choricero pepper and onion. Aragón has its own pot here.

The method that decides it is the sofrito, the slow-cooked onion base. Cook the onion and pepper gently until the onion is dark gold and the pepper has collapsed into sweetness, then reduce the tomato until a spoon drawn through the pan leaves a trench and oil beads around the edge. Only then does the cod go in. Put it in earlier and the fish dries while the sauce is still watery. Sauce first, fish last. That's the line in my Margin.

Frozen, ready-desalted bacalao is a sound choice if dry salt cod is difficult to find, and it changes very little. Fresh cod works at a pinch, but it stays softer and lacks the savory firmness that curing gives. No hace falta haber pisado España. Desalt carefully, reduce the sauce properly and keep the final simmer gentle. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.