The tradition of eating cod during Holy Week and on Fridays has a long, long tradition with the Basques, who were one of the earliest suppliers of this fish and, especially, the first to salt it in order to preserve it better.
This, which seems dangerously close to being a typical Basque boast, is recognized even by the Portuguese themselves, who were, for centuries, the leading fishermen of this fabulous fish, along with the Basques and the Norwegians.
To remove all doubt, along with this news item that appeared in Urugual about cod, the Basques, and Holy Week, we’ll also leave you with a reference to the history of salted cod.
By the way, we believe that when this newspaper refers to “Galicians,” it should actually say “Portuguese,” since there can be no doubt that when it comes to fishing cod, the Portuguese’s and the Basques’ importance is far greater than the Galicians’.
Observa -21/4/2011 -Uruguay
Comer bacalao en Viernes Santo: una costumbre vasca y milenaria
Hacia el año 1000 de la Era Cristiana, pescadores de origen vasco y también gallegos se adentraban en las aguas oceánicas del Atlántico en busca de ballenas y pescaban bacalao. Ese pescado lo salaban y por sus cualidades podían conservarlo durante meses en buen estado. Tanto el vasco como el gallego son (hasta hoy) pueblos fervientemente católicos. Durante la prohibición de carne roja del Viernes Santo encontraron que el consumo de bacalao era una perfecta sustitución.
Bonus:
A bit of the history of cod
Um Alimento Milenar: O início do Bacalhau com os Espanhóis e os Vikings (Automatic translation)
Bacalahau (Wikipedia Portugues) (Automatic translation)
Last Updated on May 18, 2022 by About Basque Country