for me it was a question of honor to participate in the foodblog event cook it with samba about brazilian cuisine, because brazil and me, we have a kind of love affair. there are a few dishes that to me are related to brazil in a special way. but many of them you can’t cook easily in europe, due to the very diferent ingredients. and of cause there is my personal challenge to present on my blog only dishes i cooked with self-grown vegetables. but i found something feasible and very important for every good brasilian evening out: bolinhos de bacalhao!

this small fried bacalhao (codfish) and potato balls are a good starter for a nice evening you meet your friends for a beer or two and an essential part of your way home from dancing the whole night. they should be accompanied by the coldest beer you can imagine. in local bars and even in supermarkets fridges have a temperature indicator as advertisement, as no brazilian would buy warm beer and warm means everything over 5°C. everything around 0°C is just perfect.

thinking about brazilian dishes and remembering my brazilian cooking favorites also brought many, many other pleasant associations with people and places. but also dearly missing emotions. so let´s start listening some brazilian music, have some bolinhos de bacalhao and succumb to saudade do brasil …

500 g bacalhao (codfish)
3-4 potatoes
4 eggs
nutmeg
flour
lime

2 liter oil

you have to water the bacalhao 24-48 hours before you can start cooking. change the water every eight hours. in between, the bacalhao should stay in the fridge.

place the “desalted” bacalhao in a pan and cover with water. bring to a boil and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. wash the potatoes and cook until tender. pour off the cooking liquid of the bacalhao and remove the skin and fish bones. pick it with your fingers to very fine pieces and place in a bowl. drain the potatoes, peel and mash them. add them to the fish.

add the yolks of the four eggs and set the egg whites aside. season with some nutmeg and combine bacalhao, potatoes and egg yolks. beat the egg whites until stiff and carefully fold in the mixture. if the mass is not firm enough to form golf ball sized balls just add some flour and try again.

preheat the frying oil to 170°C. ideally you have a deep fryer. if you don´t, just use a large pan. fry the bolinhos de bacalhao for about 10-15 minutes until their color turns golden.

serve immediately with some lime and very cold beer.

skol!

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500 g bacalhao (klippfisch)
3-4 kartoffeln
4 eier
muskatnuss
mehl
limette

2 liter öl

der bacalhao muss 24-48 h gewässert werden, bevor man ihn verwenden kann. das wasser sollte etwa alle 8 h gewechselt werden. währenddessen im kühlschrank aufbewahren.

den bacalhao in einen topf geben, mit wasser bedecken und 15 minuten köcheln lassen. die kartoffeln waschen und ebenfalls kochen bis sie gar sind. die kochflüssigkeit vom bacalhao abgießen und die haut und gräten entfernen. den fisch mit den fingern ganz fein zerpflückenund in eine schüssel geben. die kartoffeln ebenfalls abgießen, pellen und zerdrücken. zum bacalhao geben.

die 4 eigelb zum bacalhao und den kartoffeln geben, die eiweiß zur seite stellen. bacalhao, kartoffeln und eigelb mit muskatnuss würzen und alles gut miteinander vermengen. die eiweiß steif schlagen und vorsichtig unter die anderen zutaten heben. sollte die masse nicht kompakt genug sein, um golfballgroße bälle daraus zu formen, so lange mehl dazu geben, bis es passt.

das öl auf 170°C erhitzen. am besten verwendet man eine fritteuse. sonst geht es natürlich auch in einem großen topf. die bolinhos de bacalhao 10 bis 15 minuten frittieren bis sie goldbraun werden.

sofort mit limette und sehr kaltem  bier servieren.

skol!