Cod fish head. The cod fish is dried on racks and by that preserved. In the medievals Norway exchanged the monopol of selling the dried cod fish to the salesmen of the Hanse in exchange for them to bring grains from the continent to Norway as the country was suffering from not only the consequences of a period of black death but also of bad harvests. The dried fish was than sold to the catholic regions in Europe - especially during lenten fast - and became the basic of the dish bacalhau.