Chef Isabel
All Cremat de Vilanova
All Cremat de Vilanova is Catalan boat cooking: garlic taken dark in olive oil, then tomato, fish stock, and firm fish, no potato, just a broth with nerve.
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Borrida de Rajada Mallorquina
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Borrida de rajada is Mallorca's Lenten skate stew: tender ray, potatoes, and a light broth made rich at the end with a picada of fried almonds and hard-boiled egg yolk.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Easter
Comfort Food
One Pot
25 min
Active Time
40 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield4 servings
Borrida de rajada is Mallorcan, a quiet fish stew of skate wing, potatoes, onion, tomato, and a picada, the pounded thickener that makes it itself. This is island cocina de cuchara, spoon food, but lighter than a bean pot: a broth you can eat with bread, a fish that gives itself up in soft flakes, and potatoes that carry the sea without pretending to be more than potatoes.
The method that decides it is the picada. Fry the almonds and bread properly, pound them with garlic, parsley, saffron, and hard-boiled egg yolk, then loosen that paste with broth before it goes into the pot. If you throw the almonds in whole or boil the skate hard, you get thin broth and tired fish. Pound it, lower the heat, and the stew turns gently creamy without cream. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
If skate is hard to find where you are, use monkfish cheeks or thick pieces of hake. Monkfish gives firmness, hake gives sweetness, and neither has the cartilaginous bones that make ray so good to eat with your fingers. No hace falta haber pisado España. You do need fresh fish, a good fish stock, and the patience not to bully it.
My Margin for this one says the same thing twice: add the picada near the end and shake the cazuela, don't stir it like a laundry pot. The fish is delicate. Treat it that way and it comes to the table tal como se hace allí.
Borrida de rajada belongs to the Balearic island kitchen, especially Mallorca, where skate was a practical fish for fasting days and lean household cooking because it was plentiful, mild, and full of gelatin. The dish follows the Catalan and Mallorcan habit of finishing stews with a picada, a mortar paste of nuts, bread, garlic, herbs, and sometimes egg yolk, used to thicken broth without flour. Its place at Lent and Easter comes from that old fish-day table: filling enough for a family meal, but still within the rules of abstaining from meat.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
skate wings
Quantity
900g
skinned and cut into large pieces
waxy potatoes
Quantity
700g
peeled and cut into 1cm slices
onion
Quantity
1 large
finely chopped
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
2
grated
garlic
Quantity
3 cloves
divided
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
80ml
divided
fish stock
Quantity
1.1 litres
hot
bay leaf
Quantity
1
hard-boiled eggs
Quantity
2
yolks reserved and whites chopped for serving
blanched almonds
Quantity
40g
day-old country bread
Quantity
25g
torn into pieces
flat-leaf parsley leaves
Quantity
1 small handful
saffron threads
Quantity
1 pinch
sweet pimentón
Quantity
1 teaspoon
dry white wine
Quantity
2 tablespoons
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| skate wingsskinned and cut into large pieces | 900g |
| waxy potatoespeeled and cut into 1cm slices | 700g |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 large |
| ripe tomatoesgrated | 2 |
| garlicdivided | 3 cloves |
| extra virgin olive oildivided | 80ml |
| fish stockhot | 1.1 litres |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| hard-boiled eggsyolks reserved and whites chopped for serving | 2 |
| blanched almonds | 40g |
| day-old country breadtorn into pieces | 25g |
| flat-leaf parsley leaves | 1 small handful |
| saffron threads | 1 pinch |
| sweet pimentón | 1 teaspoon |
| dry white wine | 2 tablespoons |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide cazuela de barro or heavy 28-30cm pot with lid
- •Mortar and pestle
- •Small frying pan
- •Fish spatula or wide spoon
Instructions
- 1
Salt the skate
Pat the skate pieces dry and season them with 1 teaspoon fine sea salt and a little black pepper. Let them sit while you build the base. This short salting firms the flesh just enough so it doesn't fall apart the moment it meets the broth.
- 2
Make the sofrito
Warm 50ml of the olive oil in a wide cazuela or heavy pot over low heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until it is soft, sweet, and pale gold. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and cook 1 minute, then stir in the grated tomato. Cook until the tomato is dark, thick, and no longer watery, about 8 minutes. This sofrito, the slow onion and tomato base, is small here, but it still has to taste cooked.
- 3
Start the potatoes
Add the sweet pimentón and stir for 10 seconds off the strongest heat so it perfumes the oil without scorching. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble almost away. Add the sliced potatoes, bay leaf, and hot fish stock. The potatoes should be just covered; add a splash of water if the pot is wide. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 18 to 22 minutes, until the potatoes are nearly tender but not breaking.
- 4
Pound the picada
While the potatoes cook, heat the remaining 30ml olive oil in a small pan. Fry the almonds until golden, then lift them into a mortar. Fry the bread pieces in the same oil until crisp and golden, then add them too. Pound with 1 garlic clove, the parsley, saffron, and the 2 hard-boiled egg yolks until you have a rough paste. Loosen it with 4 tablespoons of hot broth from the pot. Pésalo, no lo adivines: the paste should be thick enough to coat a spoon, not dry crumbs.
- 5
Cook the skate
Lay the skate pieces over the nearly tender potatoes in one layer. Spoon a little broth over the top, lower the heat, cover the pot, and simmer very gently for 6 to 8 minutes, depending on thickness. Skate is done when the flesh pulls cleanly from the cartilage with the tip of a knife. Do not boil it hard. A hard boil turns good ray into cotton, and nobody asked for that.
- 6
Thicken and rest
Spoon the loosened picada into the broth around the fish. Shake the cazuela by the handles to distribute it instead of stirring through the skate. Simmer uncovered for 3 to 4 minutes, until the broth turns lightly creamy and glossy at the edges. Taste for salt, turn off the heat, and rest 5 minutes before serving.
- 7
Serve with egg
Serve in shallow bowls with potatoes underneath, skate on top, and plenty of thickened broth. Scatter the chopped hard-boiled egg whites over the bowls if you like, or serve them at the table. Bread is not optional in spirit; this broth wants mopping.
Chef Tips
- •Buy skate that smells clean and faintly of the sea, never sharp. Ray can develop an ammonia smell when it is tired; no method fixes that. Sourcing wins.
- •If you can't find skate, use monkfish cheeks or thick hake pieces. Monkfish stays firm and needs about the same time; hake cooks faster, so check it after 4 minutes and move gently.
- •Use a real fish stock if you can, made from white fish bones, onion, parsley, and bay. A strong shellfish stock takes over the dish, and this stew should taste of ray, potato, almond, and saffron.
- •The picada is not decoration. It thickens the broth and gives the stew its Mallorcan character, so pound it in a mortar if you have one. A small food processor works, but stop before it turns perfectly smooth.
- •Leftovers keep for one day in the refrigerator, but reheat them gently and expect the fish to be softer. Better still, eat the fish the first day and save any extra broth and potatoes for lunch with bread.
Advance Preparation
- •Boil the eggs up to 2 days ahead and keep them chilled.
- •Make the fish stock a day ahead, strain it, and refrigerate it. Bring it back to a simmer before adding it to the pot.
- •The sofrito can be cooked 1 day ahead. Stop before adding the potatoes, chill it, then continue with hot stock when you are ready to cook.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 620g)
Calories
610 calories
Total Fat
27 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
21 g
Cholesterol
185 mg
Sodium
1120 mg
Total Carbohydrates
43 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
53 g
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