
Baccala della mama
Baccala della mama

About Baccala della Mama
The business story begins in 1986 with the family tavern Milena in the village of Bačva near Višnjan.
The tavern's specialty was cod "in bianco", which guests liked so much that they ordered it to take away. The steadily growing demand inspired to produce and wholesale cod.
The first cod processing plant was built in 1996.
As demand grew, the production and range of cod products was gradually expanded.
In June 2006, the HACCP quality control system for food production was introduced, which took us a step further in product quality and customer satisfaction.
Five years later, a modern plant was built according to the strictest European standards. This made it possible to present and export high-quality cod products to new markets.
The history of cod
The regions, especially in Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia, owe cod to the Venetian aristocrat and merchant Piero Querini.
On April 25, 1431, he set sail from Crete, which at that time, just like our own country, was under Venetian rule. As the owner and captain of a Venetian merchant ship, he sailed to the ports of Bruges and Antwerp to exchange trade goods. As he passed La Manche, a terrible storm and shipwreck occurred, so Querini and the surviving sailors had to continue their adventure in lifeboats. The storm carried them to the northern part of Norway, to the Lofoten Islands, where their hosts welcomed them and offered them what they had most - fish STOKVIS (cod - GADUS MORHUA).


As a true merchant, Piero Querini took large quantities of cod with him when he returned to his country, opening up new trade routes. Piero Querini's adventure can be seen as an ideal beginning of the introduction of cod into Mediterranean cuisine.
The real history of the cod trip begins in the 16th century. when the systematic import of cod began in European countries. Excessive poverty in Europe leads to cod exploitation. Back then, the rich ate fresh fish and the poor ate dried fish. Over time, things changed, and cod ended up on the tables of the rich as a delicacy prepared in hundreds of different ways, especially during holiday seasons or fasting. The most famous ways of preparing cod in this area are cod “in bianco” and cod in “Brodet” sauce.