Bacalao
Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAC : Bacalao
- This page is about the possible island called Bacalao, for the Portuguese dish that is also known as Bacalao, see Bacalhau. For the salted and dried fish product, see clipfish. Bakalao is also a Spanish slang name for progressive techno music.
Bacalao (also spelled
Bacalhau,
Bachalaos,
Bacalhaos,
Baccalieu,
Baccalar) was a
phantom island on several
16th century maps. It is mostly used to name
Newfoundland. The name was first used on a map in
1508, but there are earlier accounts. The
Portuguese navigator
João Vaz Corte-Real was granted some lands on the
Azores by the king of Portugal, because he had discovered
Terra do Bacalhau. Furthermore
Bartolomé de Las Casas wrote about Portuguese voyages to
Tierra de los Bacallao. This has led some to believe that Corte-Real reached
the Americas before Columbus.
Bacalao literally means "dried
codfish".
Basque fisherman are said to have fished for cod at the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland in the
15th century, so this is another possible origin of the name.
See also
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