Arròs Negre de l'Empordà

Arròs Negre de l'Empordà is Catalan, from the northeastern comarca of the Empordà, and it is black rice with a surname: cuttlefish and its ink, a little fresh pork rib from inland, and a dark sofregit cooked in a cassola until the rice finishes melós, moist and spoonable. This is mar i muntanya, sea and mountain, not a Valencian paella tinted black. The pan is different, the finish is different, and the rice should carry the taste of cuttlefish before it carries the colour.

The method that decides it is the sofregit, the slow onion and tomato base. Cook it low until the onion turns dark gold and jammy and the tomato loses its water, then let the cuttlefish ink darken what already tastes deep. Rush that base and the ink only paints the grains black. It gives you black rice that tastes thin.

If you can buy dirty cuttlefish, ask the fishmonger to save the ink and the melsa, the brown sauce sac. Far from Catalonia, use cleaned cuttlefish or squid with packeted ink and a good fish stock; what changes is depth, not the bones of the recipe. For rice, choose bomba, bahía, sénia, or any Spanish arroz redondo, round short-grain rice. Arborio works at a pinch, but it gives a softer, creamier finish, so watch the liquid. No hace falta haber pisado España.

In my Margin beside this one I wrote: black is not burnt. Keep the stock hot, let the rice settle in the cassola, and don't chase a dry bottom as if every arroz wanted the same thing. This one wants to arrive juicy, with allioli beside it. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.