Lota is a Canadian conservas brand canned in Portugal — a project built on the craft tradition of the Iberian canning industry and a Canadian vision for bringing premium preserved seafood to a North American audience. This tin is unlike anything else in the Lota range — a complete, composed dish in a tin, rooted in one of the most beloved preparations in all of Portuguese cuisine: bacalhau com grão, codfish with chickpea. Bacalhau — salt cod — is the defining ingredient of the Portuguese kitchen, eaten in hundreds of preparations throughout the country and carrying centuries of cultural and culinary significance. Here it is paired with chickpeas, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, onion, and parsley: a combination that is at once deeply traditional and simply, immediately delicious. The chickpeas add body and earthiness, the vinegar adds brightness and acidity, the onion and parsley bring aromatics and freshness, and the olive oil binds everything together into something that eats more like a carefully made salad than a tin of preserved fish. Eat it at room temperature straight from the tin, or warm it gently and serve it alongside bread and a cold glass of white wine.
