Navidad puertorriqueña con coquito y comida típica

What does “bacalaíto” mean in Spanish?

A bacalaíto is a flat, crispy fritter made from salted cod (bacalao), fried until golden and eaten as a street snack or holiday side dish. The name comes from bacalao with the -ito ending folded in, but it just names the fritter — it does not mean a small piece of fish. You will mostly hear it in Puerto Rico, at roadside stalls and family tables around Christmas.

Spoken line: “Luego, cenamos arroz con [gandules] y bacalaíto.” — “Then we had rice with pigeon peas and cod fritters for dinner.” (Note: the second ingredient is likely gandules, pigeon peas — the transcript sounds like “cantules,” which appears to be ASR noise.) More ways you might hear it: - “Compré bacalaítos en la playa.” — “I bought cod fritters at the beach.” - “Los bacalaítos están bien crujientes.” — “The cod fritters are really crispy.” - “¿Quieres un bacalaíto?” — “Do you want a cod fritter?” The word comes from bacalao (salted cod). The -ito here is part of the dish’s own name — the fritter has been called bacalaíto for so long it no longer means “little codfish.” You will mostly find this word in Puerto Rico, at roadside food stalls and family meals around the holidays. Pronunciation: “ba-ka-la-EE-to.”