The Bacalhau Devotee

Inês Tavares

Inês grew up in Aveiro, the lagoon town on Portugal's Atlantic edge, where her avó kept a slab of salt cod soaking in a covered pot on the back step and changed the water three times a day without ever being asked. She spent her twenties cooking the line at a tasca in Lisbon's Alfama, learning that piri-piri is a slow-built heat and that a pastel de nata is judged by how dark you dare to let the top blister. Now she cooks to prove that bacalhau really does have a hundred faces and that none of them need a fancy pantry — just salt, time, good olive oil, and the patience to soak the cod properly.

PortugueseIberianAtlantic Seafood

Voice · salt-cured, unhurried, devout, plainspoken, coastal

Signature Dishes

The essential curation of Inês's favorites.

45 MIN

Smoky Pinto Bean and Sausage Bites

Golden-crusted savory bites of crumbled sausage and creamy pinto beans, spiced with smoked paprika and finished with a squeeze of lemon. These little rounds are unbound and unpretentious, just good Portuguese home cooking with an honest smoky soul.

50 MIN

Crispy Corn and Cod Cakes with Smoked Paprika Aioli

Golden, crunchy cod cakes loaded with sweet corn and fluffy potato, served alongside a silky aioli infused with smoked paprika. The kind of dish Inês would plate on dark wood with a squeeze of lemon and a generous pour of olive oil.

45 MIN

Pinto Bean and Cod Fritters with Smoked Paprika Aioli

Golden bean and flaked cod fritters bound with potato and egg, fried crisp and served with a garlicky smoked paprika aioli — Portuguese comfort with an Atlantic soul.

25 MIN

Chilled Scallop Tartare with Snap Peas and Sesame Oil

A light, elegant tartare of raw scallops paired with crisp snap peas and a drizzle of fragrant sesame oil, brightened with lemon and finished with fresh herbs.

45 MIN

Roasted Corn and Cod Crostini with Lemon-Parsley Oil

Golden crostini topped with flaky roasted cod and sweet charred corn, finished with a bright lemon-parsley oil. Simple ingredients made devout by good olive oil and patience.

50 MIN

Roasted Butternut Squash and Cod Soup Cups

A silky roasted butternut squash soup enriched with heavy cream, tender flaked cod, and a whisper of smoked paprika, finished with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh parsley. Served in cups for an elegant presentation.

50 MIN

Almond and Olive Oil Cake with Honey and Lemon

A moist, fragrant cake made with olive oil and almond flour, finished with honey and bright lemon. Inês would say this is the kind of cake her avó would have made on a quiet afternoon — simple, honest, and golden.

40 MIN

Olive Oil Custard Tarts with Cinnamon and Salt

Silken custard baked inside a crisp olive-oil pastry, finished with a dusting of cinnamon and flaky salt — the kind of humble, devout sweetness Inês learned to love in Aveiro.

35 MIN

Citrus and Olive Oil Cod Salad

A bright, coastal salad of tender poached cod over crisp greens with segments of citrus and a garlic-laden olive oil dressing. Inês would say the olive oil should pool on the plate like Atlantic sunlight.

45 MIN

Cod and Egg Fried Rice with Smoked Paprika

A golden, fragrant fried rice where flaked salt cod and silky scrambled eggs tumble through grains of rice dusted with smoky paprika, finished with a bright squeeze of lemon and a whisper of garlic.

1500 MIN

Cod and Garlic Confit Spread

A luscious Portuguese-inspired spread of flaked salt cod and golden garlic confit, blended with silky potatoes and finished with lemon and olive oil. Unhurried, devout, and coastal.

20 MIN

Sardine and White Bean Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

A coastal salad of tender white beans and oil-packed sardines tossed in a bright lemon vinaigrette, finished with fresh parsley and a whisper of garlic. Simple, devout, and alive with Atlantic flavor.

55 MIN

Sardine and Potato Bake with Smoked Paprika

A rustic Portuguese-inspired bake where tender potato slices cradle golden-fried sardines under a paprika-kissed cream sauce and crispy breadcrumb topping. Unhurried, devout, and built on good olive oil and time.

80 MIN

Olive Oil Custard Tarts with Cinnamon

Golden tarts with a tender olive-oil crust and a silken custard fragrant with cinnamon, baked until the tops blush amber. A gentle whisper of spice against the richness, finished with a crack of black pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

45 MIN

Roasted Cod with Tomato and Olives

Worthy cod fillets roasted over a rustic tomato and olive sauce, finished with a squeeze of lemon and plenty of olive oil. Inês would say this is the kind of dish that feeds the soul without asking for much in return.

35 MIN

Baked Eggs with Smoked Paprika and Tomato

Shakshuka-inspired baked eggs in a smoky tomato sauce, finished with a whisper of cinnamon just like Inês would. Perfect for a lazy weekend brunch with crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

45 MIN

Chouriço and Chickpea Stew with Smoked Paprika

A rustic Portuguese-inspired stew where smoky chouriço meets tender chickpeas in a richly spiced broth. The paprika and cayenne build a slow warmth that clings to the chickpeas like a memory of the Atlantic coast.

1475 MIN

Bacalhau à Lagareiro, Olive Oil Smash

A devout Portuguese classic of boiled salt cod and potatoes finished under the broiler, then smashed and drenched in a torrent of sizzling garlic-infused olive oil until the skin blisters and the kitchen smells of the Atlantic.

90 MIN

Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá Rebooted

A reverent reimagining of the Lisbon classic — silky layers of soaked cod, golden potatoes, and sweet caramelized onion, with a whisper of smoked paprika and a finish of lemon and parsley. Inês would approve of the patience this one asks of you.

45 MIN

Chouriço & Potato Pan Roast with Piri-Piri Heat

A rustic Portuguese pan roast where smoky chouriço renders its paprika-stained fat over golden roasted potatoes, finished with a bright piri-piri sauce that builds slow, faithful heat.

45 MIN

Azeite-Roasted Egg Custard with Cinnamon Dust

A silky egg custard baked in a generous bath of olive oil, finished with a fragrant dusting of cinnamon and sugar — the kind of simple thing that tastes like someone's grandmother made it with care.

45 MIN

Trout over Crispy Smoked Paprika Potatoes

Potato sliced and roasted in olive oil with smoked paprika and garlic until the edges go brown and the centers stay yielding — a bed with real substance. Trout laid over the top and finished in the same pan so it takes on the color and smoke from beneath. Lemon pressed over at the end cuts through the oil and makes the fish taste bright. Nothing complicated, nothing wasted.

32 MIN

Salmon Baked in Lemon and Garlic Oil

Salmon roasted slowly in olive oil that has been sitting with garlic long enough to turn mellow and fragrant — not harsh, not sharp, just deep. Lemon goes in at the start and again at the end, one for the flesh to drink in the oven, one squeezed over before the plate reaches the table. Parsley, scattered. The fish should still be just barely set at its thickest point.

15 MIN

Tuna and White Bean Salad with Sharp Onion

Good tuna, white beans that have had a proper soak and cook so they hold their skin but give gently inside, and yellow onion sliced thin and sharpened with red wine vinegar until its raw edge softens. Olive oil and parsley bring it together into something that feels considered without being fussy. The kind of thing Inês would eat standing at the kitchen counter before service.

45 MIN

Grilled Sardines over Roasted Pepper Salad

Sardines grilled until the skin blisters and chars at the edges, the way they do at the Festas de Lisboa when nobody is watching the coals too carefully. Beneath them, bell pepper roasted until the skin pulls away and the flesh sweetens, dressed with garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and parsley. The fish and the salad belong together — neither would be enough alone.

55 MIN

Caldo Verde, Sausage and Greens Soup

Potato cooked until it softens into the broth, then worked until the soup thickens without flour or fuss. Sausage sliced in and the fat from it carries the garlic's sweetness through every spoonful. Cabbage goes in last, shredded fine, and wilts in the heat — still green, still slightly firm, the way it should be. A thread of olive oil to finish.

50 MIN

Pork and Clams Alentejana Skillet

Pork loin browned until it has real color, then the clams go in with garlic and smoked paprika in olive oil, and everything comes together in the steam the clams release as they open. Cilantro is a requirement, not a garnish — it's what lifts this dish out of heaviness and into something that tastes like the Alentejo. The broth left in the pan is worth a piece of bread.

75 MIN

Octopus and Potato Salad, Sharp Onion Dressing

Octopus cooked low and slow until it yields — tender all the way through, not chewy, never chewy — then cooled and sliced. Potato cubed and boiled just until done. The dressing is yellow onion sharpened with red wine vinegar and smoothed with olive oil, and the parsley brings the whole plate back from being too austere. This is coastal patience on a plate.

40 MIN

Açorda, Garlic Bread Soup with Poached Egg

Stale bread soaked until it drinks up the garlic-scented broth, cilantro stirred in with a heavy hand while everything is still steaming, olive oil poured generously so the bowl shines. The egg is poached directly in, its yolk left soft so it breaks when the spoon finds it and enriches every mouthful. A dish born from having very little and knowing exactly what to do with it.

45 MIN

Salt Cod and Chickpea Garlic Salad

Desalted cod broken into generous pieces and brought together with chickpeas that have had time to turn properly creamy inside. Garlic confited until its harshness is gone, red wine vinegar to cut the richness, a proper pour of olive oil, and enough parsley to make it feel alive. Simple, honest, and better the longer it sits.

From the Pantry

Signature staples

codpotatoolive-oilgarliceggsmoked-paprikacayenneyellow-onioncinnamonparsley

Favorite tools

DutchOvenChefKnifeBakingDishWoodenSpoon

Reaches for

codpotatoegggarlicolive-oilsmoked-paprikacayennesausageheavy-creamcinnamon

Steers clear of

soy-saucegingercoconut-oilheavy curry spicingbutter as a primary cooking fat over olive oil

Flavor Profile

The Loves

salt-cured depthslow-built chili heatsmoky paprikabright lemon and vinegar against richnesscaramelized custardgarlic confited in olive oil

The Defaults

a generous pour of olive oilcracked black pepper and flaky salta squeeze of lemon to finisha whisper of cinnamon on anything custard

The Avoids

under-seasoned fishraw harsh garliccloying sweetnessheat with no flavor behind itwatery braises