Basque-Style Salt Cod Soup

The Basques, both on the Spanish and the French sides of the Pyrenees, are aficionados of salt cod, whose full flavor makes it especially delicious in hearty soups containing peppers and tomatoes. Get the thickest salt cod you can for this soup.

Basque cooks use their own local variety of chile—piments d’Espelette—but I haven’t been able to find them in the United States. Most recipes written in English recommend using sweet peppers and then suggest adding cayenne to give the