I tasted my first brandade de morue in Arles in a restaurant near the Théâtre Antique, and it was love at first bite. The rich mixture of salt cod, garlic, potatoes, cream, and olive oil came with rounds of fried bread and a side dish of tiny black olives from Nyons. When my husband and I opened La Colombe d'Or in New York City in 1976, we decided to put brandade de morue on our menu. In those pioneering days, it might have been considered a bit risky, but many of our clients were familiar with Provençal food and were delighted to find this typical dish at a Manhattan restaurant. It sold well for years.

When I learned that in the Basque country salt cod was making a comeback and had become a matter of national pride, I decided to go see for myself. In store windows in San Sebastián, whole salt cod is a common sight. Using a lethal knife, shopkeepers cut the stiff-as-a-board fish into pieces: the center fillet (lomo); the cheeks (kokotxas), valued for a gelatinous quality that produces a delicious jelly; the belly (desmigado), generally sold shredded and used for fillings and stews; and the tail (cola), ideal for soup. With the exception of brandade de morue and soufflé, most salt cod dishes are served with the slightly chewy and very flavorful skin.

Jenaro Pildain, chef at Restaurante Guria in Bilbao, was the first to champion the return of bacalao, making his reputation as king of bacalao on the strength of three classic Basque dishes: the ivory colored bacalao al pil-pil, in its own gelatinous sauce; bacalao Club Ranero, in a rich tomato sauce; and bacalao a la vinzaína, which derives its unique flavor from dried choricero peppers. By now, not only do these classic dishes appear in nearly every Basque restaurant but bacalao is making visible inroads in the repertoire of avant-garde chefs on both sides of the Atlantic. Juan Mari Arzak's bacalao cheeks in potato cream sauce and green peppers, served at Restaurante Arzak outside of San Sebastián, for example, is a modern take on another classic Basque dish, fried bacalao cheeks.

Luis Bollo of Meigas (Norwalk, CT) and Ibiza (New Haven, CT) and Joseba Jiménez de Jiménez, chef/co-owner of The Harvest Vine (Seattle), both natives of San Sebastián, have taken up the cause of bacalao stateside. Their first concern is quality. "You can tell good bacalao by color," explains Jiménez de Jiménez. "It should be off-white and display a shiny, silvery skin. Signs of yellow indicate old bacalao, while an overly long piece will be too dry." Plain tap water is the usual liquid to rehydrate the salted cod. Depending on its thickness, the belly requires eight to 12 hours; the tail 16 to 24 hours; the fillet 24 to 32 hours; and the center cut 32 to 40 hours. Once properly rehydrated, it's preferably cooked in milk, infused with aromatics such as bay leaf, thyme, and black pepper.

If Jiménez de Jiménez cannot get top bacalao, he buys cod from Greenland or Iceland and cures it himself, some for only a brief period, rendering it less dry and salty than the norm, and some for a traditionally longer period after which he vacuum seals and freezes it. In either case, the flavor is heightened by the many salts he uses. "I use 63 different salts," explains this chef, who is as obsessed with the salt as he is with the cod itself, "depending on what I'm going to do with it. Each salt tastes different. Red sea salt from Molokai is high in terra-cotta and has a sweet, earthy flavor. I use it in cold preparations like carpaccio of salt cod with extra-virgin olive oil and truffles. Or I use Salies de Bern semisweet river salt, which is very light and very dense at the same time for my green sauce salt cod." Jiménez de Jiménez also likes to dry bacalao skin in the oven till crisp and use it for garnish.

Bollo, who also prefers to do his own brief semicure for a lighter and fresher flavor, is partial to bacalao confit because poaching the fish in olive oil "preserves the moisture of bacalao." He likes to incorporate Spanish products in his dishes such as bacalao confit over potato puree with savoy cabbage, sautéed calamari with cauliflower emulsion, Basque-style sautéed Manila clams with Serrano ham and crispy artichokes, bacalao confit over a corn/Tetilla cheese terrine, and tempura of baby squid and fresh garlic drizzled with a reduction of a Ribera del Duero wine. He also grills salt cod skin side down until crisped and serves it with various sauces such as parsley or Sherry vinegar or an aïoli foam. At Jaleo in Washington, D.C., chef/partner José Andrés spikes his buñelos de bacalao (salt cod fritters) with honey aïoli.

Talking to chefs of different backgrounds in this country, I discovered an amazing fondness for salt cod. The impact of Spain's master chefs has played a certain role especially among their countrymen and certain high-end American chefs enamored of the current Spanish mystique. But the decisive factor is the nature of salt cod itself: its firm and meaty texture and rich unique flavor, which lends itself to multiple modern menu variations. To begin with, there is its affinity with garlic: raw, as confit, sautéed, sweated, or caramelized, garlic appears in nearly every preparation. Potatoes are another important player. Thinly sliced and fried with bits of sausage or eggs, they introduce a new taste dimension when mixed with the salt cod. Crust and crunch are often supplied by strong flavored, hard cheeses which are baked on top of a casserole or used as a wrapper.

Laurent Tourondel (BLT Fish, New York City), a son of landlocked Auvergne in France, prepares a stew of sautéed potatoes, garlic, and onions, topped by large flakes of salt cod. The flakes are so tasty Tourondel spreads them on toast.

At the Italian restaurant Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, chef David Reynoso features bacalao with grilled polenta. Reynoso also poaches salt cod in milk and water with a bit of garlic, fresh sprigs of thyme, and lemon zest; he roughly whips cooked potatoes and salt cod together, incorporating some extra-virgin olive oil and a bit of cream. Dolloped on crostini, sprinkled with cracked black pepper, a bit more fresh thyme, and lemon zest, this serves as a popular amuse-bouche.

In New York City, restaurant Alfama prides itself on being 100 percent Portuguese. Chef Luís Caseiro echoes his country's dictum that "in Portugal there are more ways of preparing salt cod than there are days of the year." Bacalhau espiritual is an Alfama classic. Literally meaning "spiritual," the dish originated in the 12th century at a monastery near Lisbon. It's a velvety gratin of salt cod infused with bits of shrimp, covered with São Jorge cheese and baked in a small clay pot. Other dishes vary with the season. The summer dish bacalhau com chouriço and haricots verts–slow-roasted fillet of salt cod served on top of thinly diced sautéed potatoes and chouriço, a traditional Portuguese pork sausage, accompanied by haricots verts—gives way in the fall to bacalhau assodo com broa, which finds salt cod enrobed in a cornbread crust and served over savoy cabbage. "Salt cod is one of the most versatile fish in the world," says co-owner and wine and spirits director Tarcísio Costa. "It can be boiled, broiled, baked, deep-fried, sautéed, roasted, and garnished in many different ways."

And, he notes happily, "Salt cod is no longer a hard sell for Americans. They are much more adventurous now and enjoy discovering a new flavor and a new wine pairing. Many are delightfully surprised at my suggestion of having bacalhau with a medium- to full-bodied red wine. The meatiness of the salt cod is really complemented beautifully by the red wine—one brings out the flavor of the other."

Marco Moreira, chef at Tocqueville in New York City, cures his own cod. "We do everything in-house," he says by way of an explanation, admitting that it also gives him more flexibility. His signature dish, fillet and casserole of Chatham cod, combines fresh cod fillet, seared on the plancha, served aside a casserole layered with onion confit, blanched potatoes, salted cod tail, and thyme, then finished with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of cracked pepper. The cod fillet is garnished with cured tomatoes, a dried olive dressing, and a quartered hard-boiled egg.

Salt cod, long an important fixture in the West Indies, continues to be popular in the various islands. Simple preparations such as grilled salt cod benefit from local spicing and sides of avocado, fried plantain, and boiled green bananas. Saltfish and akee is considered the national dish of Jamaica. The slightly nutty, ripe fruit of the akee tree is cooked with salt cod, pork fat, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and herbs, then garnished with crisp bacon and fresh tomatoes. In the French West Indies, accra de morue is a favorite snack of deep-fried bacalao fritters, dipped in sauce chien—the lightly pickled red and green chile Caribbean condiment, equally good at table or at the bar with citrus piqued rum drinks.

For more info: Bacalao, published by Montagud, is considered the bacalao bible. The book is available in Spanish only at Kitchen Arts & Letters in New York City.

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky provides a comprehensive look at the history altering role codfish has played in the past millennium.