Reconstituted dried salt cod may not sound like much in English, but call it, in Spanish, bacalào, in Portuguese bacalhau, or bacalà in Italian, and you have a highly prized dish. The process of drying and preserving fish in salt gave impoverished peasants a supply of food to carry them through the winter. These days, high end chefs pay the ingredient deserved respect, transforming it into light quenelles and small bites, and the traditional dish 'with a contemporary twist'.

European Foods, 2700 N. Pershing Street, 703 524 6800, sells it. So does A & H Seafoods, Bethesda Ave, Bethesda, Vace's on Connecticut Ave NW opposite the Uptown Cinema, and Americana Grocery's branch at 8541 Piney Branch Rd, Silver Spring, 301 495 0864.

With at least two days' notice, there are a few restaurants which will prepare it: Andalusia, 12300 Wilkins Ave, Rockville, 310 770 1880; Brasil Sol e Mar, 2519 Pennsylvania Ave NW, 202 463 3011; Il Borgo, 1381-A Beverly Rd, McLean, 703 893 1400.

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