Our baccala salad has been a tradition in my family since I was 12 years old living in Oakville. My parents and I came from Italy in 1965. My father worked hard and long days to finally buy a house in 1970 in Oakville.
He planted fruit trees in the yard and one was a mini seckel pear tree. My mom would pick these in August and pickle them so she could put them into our baccala salad as well as pickled sweet red peppers for Christmas Eve.
My family loves this particular version of baccala salad that my mother created.
It is a bite of salty, sweet, and crunchy. We look forward to this every year and I have written down this recipe — and many others — to hand down to my children and grandchildren.
— Giocondina O’Brien, Watertown
Baccala Salad
Serves 10-12
1- 1/2 lbs. salted baccala
Celery (1 bunch), leaves also
Fennel (1 bulb)
Olives with pits or not (1 can).
Put slices of garlic also
Pickled marinated pears (5-6).
Sweet pickled marinated peppers.
Prepare red peppers as pears but using more sugar so it’s a bit sweeter. Place in Mason jars. Store.
Onion
Marinated artichokes (1-2 small jar)
Marinated mushrooms (1-2 small jar).
Place baccala in water three days before you need to make the salad.
Change water every day to get salt out of it.
Poach fish then. Cut into bite size pieces.
Add all other ingredients (cut into bite size pieces) and toss with a bit salt and extra virgin olive oil.
Serve in a large glass bowl.
MARINATED PEARS
1-2 lbs Bosc washed pears (small ones in summer).
In a pan, measure 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup white wine vinegar (add more water if too vinegary strong), a pinch of salt and sugar. Stir and taste to your liking.
Bring to a boil. Let cool.
Place pears in a large jar or container. Pour cooled liquid in jar to cover (but leave 1/4 from top).
Let sit and use as needed. They will keep for a very long time.
PICKLED SWEET PEPPERS (FOR USE IN BACCALA SALAD, ETC.)
2 red peppers – cut up in slices.
1 cup white wine vinegar.
2 cup cold water.
1-2 garlic slices
Salt and sugar to taste.
Take pepper slices and place in Mason jars.
In a pan, place vinegar water, salt (1 tsp) and sugar to taste. Taste the mixture to make sure it’s more on sweet side than vinegary. Bring it to a boil, pour into jar with peppers.
Add a few slices of garlic and seal with Mason tops. Keep in a cool place for storage. Use as needed within a day.
Collected by Cookingtom
Original Article
I’m Brian Danny Max, a chef and a writer at cookingtom.com. I’m here to talk about food and cooking, and to share some of my favorite recipes with you all! I’ve been interested in food and cooking since I was a child. My parents are both great cooks, and they taught me a lot about the kitchen. I’ve been cooking professionally for about 10 years now, and I’ve loved every minute of it! I specialize in healthy, flavorful recipes that are easy to make at home. I believe that anyone can cook a delicious meal, no matter their skill level. I’m here to help you learn how to cook, and to show you that it’s not as difficult as you might think! I hope you’ll check out my blog and my recipes, and I look forward to hearing from you!