Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá

Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá is shredded salt cod baked with layers of thin-sliced potato and onion, finished with hard-boiled egg and black olives. It is a Porto classic, named for João Gomes de Sá, a Porto native who ran his family's dried-fish shop and is credited with the recipe, rather than any place or technique.

What it really is

Salt cod, soaked and shredded into loose flakes, layers into a baking dish with thin rounds of potato and softened onion, doused generously in olive oil and baked until the top edges turn lightly golden. Wedges of hard-boiled egg and black olives scatter over the finished dish, added after baking rather than cooked in, so they stay distinct rather than blending into the rest.

The potato is sliced thin and layered, not cubed and mixed through. That layering is what gives the finished bake its structure, holding together in neat slices when served rather than falling apart into a loose fish-and-potato mash.

How it is served

• Straight from the baking dish, cut into portions.
• With hard-boiled egg wedges and black olives arranged over the top.
• As a main course, one of the most-ordered bacalhau dishes on any Portuguese menu.

How to write it on the menu

• Flag the fish and the egg.
• Say it's a baked, layered dish distinct from the pan-fried, egg-bound bacalhau à Brás often confused with it.
• Note the olive oil quantity used, since it's genuinely generous and part of what defines the dish.