Visitors to Portugal are often surprised by the popularity of the dried, salted codfish known as bacalhau. It is featured on every restaurant menu and can often be seen hanging up in shop doorways. There is even a section dedicated to bacalhau in the local supermarket. Once you have tasted one of the 365 different recipes that the Portuguese say exist, then you’ll appreciate its popularity! Such dishes as Bacalhau à Braz, Bacalhau à Zé do Pipo and Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá are staple dishes for both lunch and dinner most days of the week. It’s also the traditional main course during the Portuguese Christmas feast. Not only popular, bacalhau is highly nutritious, containing as much as three times the protein content of any other fish in the sea.