Baccalà is cod fish preserved by packing it in salt and drying—great as an appetizer or as a main course. Where my parents come from, the Campanià region of Italy, it’s was cheap and kept well without refrigeration, which made it an ideal food on Fridays when meat was not eaten.

Growing up, Baccalà was always part of  La Vigilia—feast of the seven fishes—a Christmas Eve meal celebrated by many Italian-Americans. To prepare it, it first has to be desalinated, which means it has to be soaked in water that is changed out many times for several days until the water is completely clear. As a kid, I remember seeing yellow buckets of salted cod with a hose stuck inside and the water overflowing out of it.