Baccalà mantecato is a favourite in our family and it has been to my utter disappointment that until now I have not been able to share a perfect recipe for it. Part of the reason for this is that in the Veneto, the words for baccalà and stoccofisso have the exact opposite meanings as elsewhere in the country. Baccalà in Veneto is dried cod whereas elsewhere in Italy, it is salt cod. Stoccofisso in Veneto means salt cod whereas in the rest of Italy it means dried cod. To add to the confusion, many of the abounding recipes for baccalà mantecato use salt cod and deliver a flavour unlike the one I so love when in Venice. (Side note: there is a baccalà mantecato from Ferrara which does use salt cod cooked in milk but it is not whipped.) Furthermore the texture has not been that easy to replicate until I began to understand that in many ways that making baccalà mantecato is like making a sauce, a mayonnaise to be exact, except without the egg. It apparently used to be made in a butter churn (zangola) which makes a lot of sense. I know if you make it, you will enjoy it. It is perfect on toasted bread or grilled polenta. Do not be put off by the long preparation time, it is essentially soaking the fish and changing the water which takes a few seconds at a time. Also, if you like, you can add a garlic clove and half a lemon to the poaching water. Enjoy!