Raizes. Bacalhau. Portugal.
Dish: 2/10
Back away from the Bacalao.
Restaurant: 3/10
Portugal deserves better than Raizes.
Portugal's national dish Is Bacalhau, which is the portuguese word for cod. We had heard of Baccala or Bacalao (spelled that way) before, mostly In reference to Italian food, but we were not aware that It's a portugese word being used and In fact It's originally a portuguese dish.
We visited Raizes Churrascaria, a Portuguese bar and restaurant In Greenpoint, to try out Bacalhau for the World Restaurant Challenge.
Salt Cod
Bacalhau is dried and salted. Before cooking, It Is soaked and refreshed in water to rehydrate and desalinate before cooking. Portuguese people will tell you there isn’t one recipe for it. It could be a casserole, or a dip, or it could be a straightforward fish steak, as we had at Raizes.
This gif Is taken from this Rick Steves video where Rick visits Portugal's capital city - Lisbon.
Raizes’ Bacalhau was the first we had ever tried. It was served with a side of our choice - we went with French fries - plus some pickled vegetables. It was also served with some fried vegetables on top - onions, garlic, peppers. It was a pretty huge piece of fish and we had already ordered sardines and fried cauliflower, so we weren’t able to finish it, much to the chagrin of our proud Portuguese waiter. He ostentatiously brought us a box at the end of the meal, which we politely turned down.
But the size wasn't the only reason we weren't able to finish it. After a few bites, we became a little shocked by how salty it was in the center. I told our proud Portuguese waiter that I found it very salty and he said that it was normal for Bacalhau, but I just can’t believe that that’s true. It was so salty it burned my tongue. The process for preparing Bacalhau Involves soaking It In water that should be refreshed three times to desalinate the fish. I suspect someone in the kitchen skipped a step In the preparation of this particular Bacalhau.
Portugal and Portuguese Americans
Cod is not a fish that appears off the shores of Portugal. When the country started getting interested in cod, it was getting it off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Some say that Portuguese voyagers reached Newfoundland before John Cabot, who was the first European explorer to happen upon what we now call North America. Regardless, when they found their way to North America, the Portuguese went mad for cod, and figured a way to preserve the cod that predated refrigeration - by salting it on the boat.
Portugal often feels like the forgotten empire of Europe. Most people with a general awareness of the British, Spanish, French and even Dutch empires probably couldn't tell you much about the Portuguese empire, aside from the fact it colonized Brazil. But when you look at national cuisine, Its Influence Is clearly felt on every continent. Even some Indian cuisine Is Influenced by Portugal - Vindaloo for example.
Portuguese immigrants were attracted to the USA for the whaling industry in the early 19th century, and the gold rush of the 1850s, but just as many came simply to find a better life. A vast majority of the Portuguese immigrants to the USA came from the Azores perhaps up to 90%. This is partly because of the economic conditions in the Azores, but also likely because of the whaling connection. Since so many whalers came from the Azores in the 19th century, their relatives followed, and so on and so forth.
Raizes opened in late 2013, replacing a defunct but somewhat iconic auto parts supply store - Wasco. It definitely deserves props for being one of the few Portuguese restaurants in New York and they are fully committed to the Portuguese tradition. They serve Portuguese wines, which are excellent and affordable, and Super Bock - a Portuguese beer, In metric volume, in addition to domestic beers. It’s a great space on a busy corner of Greenpoint. It has TV’s, usually playing sport, so it sometimes has the feel of a sports bar rather than a restaurant.
Crazies
We had walked and driven past Raizes several times and always misread the sign as Crazies, because of the unusual logo treatment on their roof that Includes a curved roof beam. For some reason that made us less Inclined to pop In.
Gordon Ramsay would have a few things to say about Raizes If It appeared In one of his kitchen nightmares shows - the huge menu, the slightly lame sides, the confusing sports bar vibe. But we're not going to do Ramsay's job for him. He should get his ass to Razies and pull on someone's plonker.
Other Portuguese restaurants in New York include Leitao in the West Village and O Lavrador in Jamaica. We will go there at some point to find out if their Bacalhau is as insanely salty as Raizes' Bacalhau.
Obrigado! Adeus!
