Yiayia
By Anastasia Miari
Yiayia Niki's bakaliaros plaki (cod bake) from Kalamata
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
Deep into the mountains, up winding passes and a rough, rugged terrain between which olive trees and drooping eucalyptus burst forth, Niki is the only inhabitant of her village on the rugged Mani Peninsula. She lives in a stone house, with centuries-old embroidery framed and hanging from the walls, along with traditional wooden instruments, religious icons and sepia photographs, faded even more by the sun. Niki is a healer. She says she’s never been to a doctor in her life and swears by the power of raw vegetables and fruit. She is a rare breed here in Greece, less obsessed with feeding me an overwhelming amount of food and more concerned about making sure she gives me the right thing to truly nourish. Seconds into our meeting, she’s passing me a beetroot, carrot and apple juice she’s made. Then Marco the pony makes an entrance, helping himself to the basket of apples on the floor. Petting him and calling him ‘Markaki’, Niki doesn’t seem to mind one bit and I feel like I’ve walked into a scene from a 1990s children’s TV show. We eat Niki’s flavour-rich dish in the dappled shade of her balcony, overlooking inky blue water in the distance. The currants perfectly balance the salted cod, but if you’re not a fan of salt cod, I’ve also made this recipe with cod fillets and added salt myself. I’ve also made this into a plentiful vegan dish by omitting the fish and adding an extra potato and red (bell) pepper.
Recipe From
Ingredients
1kg (2lb 4oz) salt cod or cod fillets
120ml (4fl oz/½ cup) olive oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
3 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
600g (1lb 5oz) potatoes, roughly chopped
4 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon peppercorns
5 cloves
5 allspice berries
100g (3½ oz/⅔ cup) currants (Zante currants)
1 red (bell) pepper, roughly chopped
130ml (4½ fl oz/generous ½ cup) water
500g (1lb 2oz) tomatoes (can be tinned), quartered
bunch of parsley, chopped (including the stalks)
dried oregano, to taste
sea salt flakes
bread, to serve
Method
- If using salt cod, soak the fillets overnight in water, then the next day, rinse again under cold water, drain and squeeze the fillets to remove any excess water.
- Lay the fish flat in a baking dish and sprinkle with oregano, then set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC (400ºF/gas 6).
- Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan (skillet) with a lid over a high heat and fry the onions, garlic and potatoes for 5 minutes.
- Add the bay leaves, spices, currants and red pepper, along with a final sprinkling of oregano and 80 ml (2¾ fl oz/⅓ cup) of the water. Cover and steam for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the potatoes don’t stick. If you’re using cod that hasn’t been salted, sprinkle in a tablespoon of sea salt flakes at this point.
- Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 2 minutes with the lid on, then remove from the heat and pour the mixture over the cod in the baking dish.
- Sprinkle half the chopped parsley over the top and the remaining water, then bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
- When cooked, garnish with the remaining chopped parsley and serve with a slice of bread for soaking up the juices.
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