Joao Rodrigues, the executive chef of restaurant Feitoria in Lisbon as well as the heart and soul of the Projecto Materia went for a traditional Portuguese delicacy.

“This is one of the most traditional recipes of Portuguese Cuisine,” says Joao. “We can find it from the North to South all year long, at the local restaurants as well as at the traditional tasca or taberna (places to drink wine and eat petiscos).

Its very versitile, it can be eaten with letuce, onion and coriander salad, alone as a snack or with its most iconic companion – Tomato rice.

It looks simple and easy to make, but there is a lot in to it. Some people add Port wine into the recipe –  it actually changes a bit from house to house like most of the Portuguese traditional recipes.”

Potatoes:

3 medium size potatoes

Cook them with skin, in salted water, until cooked.

Take them out, peal them and pass them through a sieve while they are still warm

COD:

3 pieces of dry salted cod (already soaked in water) of 300gr each

While the potatoes are boiling, cook the cod at low heat in water with:

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

Parsley

1 bayleaf

A drizzle of olive oil

Black pepper

Take the cod out and remove all skins and bones. Put all the cod meat over a clean cloth and work it really well so it looses all the water and turns well shredded.

Bring together the potato puré, the shredded cod, 3 whole eggs, a tablespoon of chopped parsley, 1 small onion (raw) chopped, nut meg, grounded black pepper, and salt.

Make quenelles with two spoons and fry them in vegetable oil at 180C until they are golden and crispy

Serve them immediately.