In Ladadika, opposite the port of Thessaloniki, members of the Keranidis family run in full quorum and … do not arrive to make final preparations for codwhich will be in pots on March 25, satisfying the tastes of all those who faithfully follow the customs of the day.

Cod has its day of honor on the day of the national anniversary, and stalls of this species are in the phase of salting huge quantities of cod in huge troughs in order to offer their customers the most delicious result. After all, phone calls have been pouring in for a week now, and bookings and bookings have been hitting the ceiling for days.

“Queue” of people

A century of life and an account for a store that is now in the hands of the fourth generation and has roasted millions of codfish for its work, but every year the same stress: that no one leaves with complaints, as the owners say.

Speaking to 104.9 FM Agency, Marialisa Keranidu, the youngest of the family who skipped all the parades to help her grandfather and father at the family tavern, explains that the work of the week we are going through is like no other. another whole year.

“Two weeks ago, the preparation, cleaning and cutting of cod began. This week we are doing salting, which is done in huge troughs, since we have a very large number and this year more than in any other year. The cold water is changed every seven hours to remove the salt,” notes Ms Keranidu.

The image of queues at the store has been familiar for many years. Television networks from many countries, including the BBC, have come to Thessaloniki and devoted television time to codfish with its crispy shell and garlic, which is the star of a shop that started as a small stall and has grown into a big successful business. Today .

Store History

The story of one of the oldest bakalaraki in Thessaloniki (“Bakalaraki Aristo”) begins in 1910, when Aristo’s father opened a shop on Katuni street, so small that only he could fit inside to bake his goods. His main clients were dockers. In the mornings, grandfather grilled bugats over the coals, and at noon he served various delicacies of Asia Minor cuisine, mainly from anchovies and sardines. In 1941, his son Aristos took over the store and decided to serve cod, which was of Russian origin. Initially, coal was used for frying and there was no possibility of large-scale production, as a result of which cod frying stopped at 9-10 in the morning and many starved.

“Customers ate almost standing up and where they could stand to take a break from hard work. They used to spread the newspaper in which the store served fish on the hoods of cars and wagons, or on any other sheet of metal that came to hand, ”explains the young daughter of one of the owners.

In 1987, the current grandfather Aristos handed over the famous store to his nephews Dimitrios and Nikolaos Keranidis. Dimitris was a mechanical engineering graduate and Nikos was a physics graduate. The two brothers, seeing more work to do, replaced their grandfather’s old baking systems with modern ones a few years later, faithfully preserving the tradition taught to them by their ancestors.

The youngest in the family, having grown up like her brothers and cousins ​​with the intensity of the taste and smell of cod, she also does not know her secrets, or at least does not want to divulge them, which is also more likely. In addition, according to her, for more than a hundred years, the mouths of the few involved have remained tightly closed, and no one has revealed anything either in terms of ingredients or dosage.

“All of our customers want to know the secrets of grilled cod with garlic, but this cannot be. To understand how well our secret was kept for a century and not a single grain leaked, even the dough that Aristotle made – all that was left – he threw into the gutter, down the drain, so that no one would know the ingredients of the secret recipe. I can only say that our skordalia is made from bread, and for those who will fry at home, cod needs a lot of oil, a lot of patience and a very strong fire so that it does not … sit and stick to the pan, “Keranidu notes.