Salt cod is one of the staples of the entire Iberian Peninsula but also fondly appreciated in France and Italy. Brandade du Morue is salt cod blended with potatoes, cream, garlic and olive oil. It can be served by itself as an appetizer or tapa, accompanied by garlic croutons. Bacalao is the Spanish term, and doesn’t usually include potato as would brandade. <br /> <br />On a trip to San Francisco I visited Iluna Basque to sample their tapas and tasted these piquillo peppers stuffed with brandade and quickly figured I could make this appetizer at home myself. It's an exquisite pairing of ingredients. Piquillo peppers have a somewhat conical shape which makes them a bit easier to stuff and present, so look for that in your peppers. But you can order the authentic piquillos through a couple of websites (such as Zingerman’s) or you can just roast a few red peppers on your gas burners until they blacken, and then peel them and macerate them in olive oil. Remember that here the peppers are the star and the bacalao is the condiment. <br /> <br />Making the brandade is at least a two day process because once you have the salt cod you must soak it in cold water in the refrigerator for 48 hours, changing the water 4 to 6 times during that period. <br />

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