The Bacalao Pilgrimage

Salt cod and an emulsion conjured from nothing but its own gelatine, olive oil and garlic. Basque kitchen alchemy you have to taste to believe.

Photo: The Spruce Eats

Example Extreme Day Trip:🛫 From London Heathrow⏱ 1h 55m flightShare to WhatsApp

Why this dish?

Bacalao al pil-pil is one of the great Basque dishes and a genuine piece of culinary sorcery. Desalted cod is gently warmed in olive oil with garlic and chilli; then the pan is swirled - and swirled, and swirled - until the gelatine from the fish emulsifies with the oil into a pale, glossy, clinging sauce. No flour, no cream, no butter. Just patience and a clay cazuela. The name supposedly comes from the 'pil-pil' sound it makes as it bubbles.

Bilbao is the gateway to Basque food, one of the best eating regions on earth, and bacalao al pil-pil is its signature feat - a dish that tastes profound but is built from almost nothing. Wash it down with a young Txakoli (the local fizzy white, poured from height) and you understand why people plan whole trips around eating in the Basque Country. You can do it in a day.

Our Picks

Restaurante Los Fueros

Address: Calle de los Fueros 6, Bilbao (Casco Viejo)
What to order: Bacalao al pil-pil, and start with a few pintxos and a glass of Txakoli.
Book ahead: Worth booking for dinner; lunch is more relaxed.
Pro tip: Watch how the sauce coats the spoon - that emulsion is the whole achievement; mop it with bread.

Bar Gure Toki

Plaza Nueva 12, Bilbao

On Plaza Nueva, the heart of Bilbao's pintxos scene - the standing-up, bar-to-bar version of the Basque meal.

What to order: A pintxos crawl - bacalao in its many guises, plus gilda skewers and txakoli - bar to bar around the square.

Good to know

Bilbao runs on pintxos (Basque bar snacks) - graze across several bars rather than sitting for one big meal if you prefer. Txakoli is the local white, poured from a height to aerate it. The Guggenheim is a short walk from the old town if you want art with your alchemy.

Your day plan