Here is my recollection of my mom's Bacalao (cod fish). Back to La Cocina. Just for starters, let me list what I know in terms of ingredients: Cod fish (of course!) we usually get at least 2 kg. Since we get it salted, it usually takes about a day (or more, since it Mexico it really comes dry like a rock in salt) of dipping it in water, and changing it periodically to remove the salt. With fresh cod (which you can get in Davis!) you can skip this altogether. You can just soak it in water to soften it, to make sure there are no bones. Some people like it in chunks, but my mom always breaks it up so that it is not chunky, like minced meat or finely shredded chicken, so I grab a couple of forks and shred the cod. While you shred, you can sautee the onions slowly in olive oil (spanish or italian, extra virgin) with some chopped garlic. Tomato paste or tomato puree This is what gives the cod the reddish/orangish color. If it is puree, you can put it in as is, roughly equal parts with the codfish I guess, but that is for when we use the salted codfish which is very dry, it might be less with fresh cod. If it is paste, I would add some water. I have recently just used fresh tomatoes and pureed them in the blender, with some chile ancho to boot, it adds some more flavor and they're not hot. Potatoes. We used about 2-3 kg of potatoes, but I think this was because they really help to absorb the salt. When you use salted cod, if it is still a bit salty, you can add more potatoes. Also, it is very true of this dish that it gets better the 2nd or 3d time you heat it up, as then all the ingredients are able to let their flavor mix. For the potatoes, I think the ones with the purple skin are best. I don't even think you need to peel them, just cut them up into ~cubes about 1.5 to 2 cm on a side, and wash them well. Olives. I remember that always in Mexico my plate at the end is empty but for the olive seeds. Here you can get the pitted olives that have no seed and also no filling (mom said the ones with red peppers and other such fillings wouldn't do). We use the ones which are army green color, preferably spanish (of course), the black kalamata olives from greece are a bit strong for my taste for this dish. We went through 3 large bottles, I guess about 200 g in each bottle... and maybe we even had to buy one more. Capers. Alcaparra. Again, spanish capers. Also the ones that are in the thick bottles, about as much as the olives, but maybe a little bit less, i'd say about 500 g is ok, but you can always add a bit more. They really enhance the flavor. Chile güero. This is the one we couldn't find in NY, but I can find it easier in California (in a jar). It literally translates to "blond" chile, and I guess it gets that name because it is yellow. It is slightly thicker than a jalapeño, but longer. Also the jalapeño is somewhat smooth, but this one normally looks a bit twisted. It is normally not a spicy chile at all, just adds some flavor (although the ones I found in California did have some kick!). We did find a yellow pepper in the supermarket, so we added that in, but of course it didn't have the same flavor. We then enhanced it by getting some "rajas de chiles en vinagre", a sort of mix of sliced jalapeños, onions, and sliced carrots kept in vinegar which is very easy to find in any supermarket. You can add the carrots and onions for flavor, and a few jalapeños if you want a bit of spice. Parsley. Perejil. Not the curly parsley, the other one (italian). At least one of those bunches that are already packed in the supermarket, maybe even two. Most of it then is just stirring. I think the way I see my mom do it is just to add what she feels are the right combinations, and stir and stir. Then taste and figure out if it needs more of one thing or of the other, add it again, and stir and stir. Unfortunately, this is very hard to write down, but I'll send you what she writes (which will also remind me if I forgot something). And a key point is that it always improves after 2 or 3 days. As an option, you can also add sliced almonds.
