CarneAtlas

BacalhauvsSalt cod

Fish · Same fish, two names

Bacalhau and Salt cod are the same fish. Different languages, different markets, one species — so a recipe calling for one works exactly as written with the other.

The one fish

Atlantic cod is a cornerstone of European and North American food culture, with a mild, flaky white flesh that has fed populations for centuries. It is sold fresh as thick fillets and steaks in the UK and US, and as salt-dried bacalhau in Portugal and Brazil — a product so culturally embedded in Iberian cuisine that Portugal alone is said to have a different bacalhau recipe for every day of the year.

Full guide to Bacalhau

What to ask for, by country

One species, one fishmonger’s counter at a time.

CountryCalled
🇺🇸United StatesSalt cod
🇬🇧United KingdomSalt cod
🇫🇷FranceMorue
🇪🇸SpainBacalao
🇦🇷ArgentinaBacalao
🇲🇽MexicoBacalao
🇵🇹PortugalBacalhau
🇧🇷BrazilBacalhau
🇮🇹ItalyBaccalà
🇩🇪GermanyStockfisch

Browse every species in the atlas on the fish index, or identify one from a photo with Identify my cut.

Would you know it at the counter?

Five questions: name the cut, place it on the animal, and say which country calls it that. A new board every day — no sign-up.

Play today’s puzzle