Bertucci’s executive chef Jeff Tenner prepared fish samples being considered as replacements for fillets formerly used in the chain’s Baked Merluzzo.

Globe-sponsored DNA testing showed the dish contained hake instead of the cod described on the restaurants’ menus. Bertucci’s decided to replace the hake after the Globe informed it of the DNA test results.

The box shown here describes the fish Bertucci's formerly used in its Baked Merluzzo. It was hake, not the cod listed on the menu.

Bertucci’s chefs spent several weeks finding new suppliers for cod and trying out different samples of the fish.

Tenner, the executive chef, examined a cod sample being considered as a replacement for hake.

Among the fish being considered for Baked Merluzzo were a North Atlantic cod loin from Iceland and a Pacific cod fillet from Alaska.

Tenner presented all four fish – in raw and cooked versions -- to a panel of company executives for taste-testing.

Each prepared dish, carefully labeled, was wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in the 575-degree brick oven.

The tasting panel unanimously agreed that Pacific cod, from Boston’s North Coast Seafoods, was the best option. It is now being used in the Baked Merluzzo dish.