Bacalhau à Brás (Portuguese Salt Cod with Eggs and Potatoes)

Method

1. 1Soak the salt cod in cold water in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours, changing the water three or four times. Tear off a shred and taste it: lightly salty is right, salty means it needs longer.
2. 2Simmer the drained cod for 8 to 10 minutes, then let it cool. Take off the skin and bones and pull the flesh apart by hand into fine threads rather than chunks.
3. 3Slice the onions thin and cook them gently in the olive oil with the bay leaf for 8 to 10 minutes until soft and translucent. Do not let them brown; you want their sweetness, not colour.
4. 4Add the garlic for the last minute, then the shredded cod, and warm it through for three or four minutes in the onions.
5. 5Beat the eggs with the black pepper. Hold off on salt until the very end — the cod carries plenty of its own.
6. 6Turn the heat to low, fold in the batata palha, then pour in the eggs. Stir slowly and constantly until the eggs are barely set and the mixture is creamy, then take the pan off the heat while it still looks a little loose.
7. 7Fish out the bay leaf, scatter the parsley and olives on top, add a thread of olive oil and serve at once.