Baccalà

Baccalà is Italian for salted cod, known in English as clipfish. Most "baccalà" dishes require that the fish be soaked numerous times to remove excess saltiness. It is the same word as Portuguese "bacalhau", and Spanish "bacalao", which are used in similar dishes.

Despite its name, the "baccalà alla vicentina", a dish native to Vicenza, is not made from salted cod, but from dried "unsalted" cod (stockfish) served on or next to polenta.

In Rome, Baccalà alla Romana, is a dish of deep-fried battered salt-cod, which derives from the traditional cuisine of the Jewish quarter.

Because in the old days, in Italian households, this dried out flattened fish was frequently used as a paddle for spankings, the term baccala was often used as a term for spanking; as in, "You better behave yourself or I'll give you baccala!", or "You want me to give you baccala?”

ee also

*Bacalhau