Portugal Travel

Dried salt cod, or "Bacalhau", is a purely Portuguese invention. The Portuguese were fishing Newfoundland's Grand Banks for cod within just a few years of Columbus' discovery of America. As early as the 16th century, the fishermen learned to salt cod at sea to last the long voyage home, and to sun-dry it into board stiff slabs that could be kept for months, later to be soaked in cool water before cooking.