Clipfish is salted, whole, dried fish, most often made from cod. The most famous clipfish comes from Norway, where it's traditionally dried in the sun, near the seaside (klipper). Also called baccalà (in Italian), bacalhau (in Portuguese), and bacalao (in Spanish). The name clipfish comes from the Norwegian word klippfisk. Fisk means fish and klipp stems from "klepp", which means rock by the waterside. Clipfish is not the same as stockfish, another type of dried fish. Stockfish is not salted.

The fish is gutted, splitted, then salted and dried. Traditionally the fish was sun-dried on rocks, but today other means are used.

Clipfish has been produced for at least 500 years, since the time of the European discoveries. For centuries, curing with salt was one of the only methods of preserving fish for long-distance shipping. Since the time of the Vikings, salted and dried cod from the North Atlantic has been shipped around the world, with a large share going to the Mediterranean countries; this method preserves many nutrients and, as it is said, makes the codfish tastier. Because it could last for months or even years without spoiling, salt cod became, and remains, a popular food in Brazil, Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy.

The Portuguese tried to use this method of drying and salting in several fishes of the Portuguese coast, but the ideal fish came from near the North Pole. With the discovery of Newfoundland in 1497, the Portuguese started fishing in that region. Thus, along with the codfish of Norway, Bacalhau was made part of the Portuguese cuisine and often nicknamed "Fiel amigo" (faithful friend).

One of the reasons that clipfish became so popular in Portugal and other catholic countries, was because of the fast day every week, where one wasn't allowed to eat meat. Bacalhau dishes was eaten instead.

There are numerous Bacalhau recipe variations, depending on region and tradition. It is said there are more than 365 ways to cook bacalhau, one for every day of the year; others say there are 1001 ways.