Caldereta de Langosta de Menorca

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 30cm cazuela de barro, greixonera, or heavy low Dutch oven
• •Flame diffuser if using clay over gas
• •Mortar and pestle for the picada
• •Kitchen shears or heavy knife for lobster pieces
• •Box grater for tomatoes

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut the lobster

   Have the fishmonger dispatch the lobsters just before you cook and cut each one into large pieces: head split lengthwise, tail cut across into 4-5cm medallions, claws cracked if you are using bogavante. Keep the head pieces, tail pieces, shells, and any clean juices separate, and discard the gritty stomach sac near the eyes. Pat the pieces dry and salt them with 3g of the salt.

   Take the fishmonger's help here. Nadie nace sabiendo, nobody is born knowing, and no dinner improves because you fought the main ingredient.
2. 2

   Dry the bread

   If the serving bread is not already dry, lay the thin slices on a tray and dry them in a 140C oven for 10 to 12 minutes, just until firm and pale. Set aside the slices for the bowls. Keep the torn 20g piece of bread for the picada, the pounded thickener that will finish the broth.

3. 3

   Cook the sofrito

   Warm 60ml of the olive oil in a wide cazuela de barro or heavy low pot over medium-low heat. If you use barro over a flame, set it on a diffuser. Add the onion, green pepper, and 3g salt, then cook slowly for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables collapse, turn deep gold, and smell sweet. Add the 3 minced garlic cloves and cook 2 minutes more.

4. 4

   Reduce the tomato

   Add the grated tomato, bay leaf, and black pepper. Cook 18 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the tomato darkens, thickens, and the oil shows around the edge. If you are using canned tomato, give it 5 minutes more. This is the step that decides the stew: rush it and the lobster sits in sharp tomato water.

   The sofrito should look almost too thick before the lobster goes in. The broth comes later; sweetness has to be built first.
5. 5

   Toast the shells

   Raise the heat to medium. Add the head pieces, shell pieces, and the claws if you are using bogavante. Turn them through the sofrito for 3 to 4 minutes, until the shells redden and the pot smells of the sea. Add the brandy or wine and let it bubble hard for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pot.

6. 6

   Simmer the lobster

   Pour in the hot water, or light shellfish stock if you are using clawed lobster, enough to cover the shells by about 1cm. Bring it to a gentle simmer and cook the head and claw pieces for 10 minutes. Add the tail medallions and the remaining 2g salt, then simmer 6 to 8 minutes, just until the tail meat turns opaque and firm. If the broth needs a few minutes more, lift the tails out and simmer the heads longer; do not punish the tail for the broth's sake.

   A Menorcan caldereta is loose and spoonable, not a thick sauce. The bread in the bowl will take care of the body.
7. 7

   Add the picada

   In a mortar, pound the almonds, torn bread, whole garlic clove, 15g parsley, and a pinch of salt to a rough paste. If you have clean lobster coral and your fishmonger has said it is suitable, pound it in now. Loosen the paste with a ladle of hot broth, stir it into the pot, and simmer gently for 5 minutes so it cooks through and lightly thickens the broth. Taste for salt.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Take the caldereta off the heat and let it rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Lay 2 or 3 slices of dry bread in each deep bowl, ladle over the lobster and broth, and scatter the remaining parsley on top. The bread should soften but still hold its shape. Serve with spoons, bowls for shells, and more napkins than pride. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

Chef Tips

• •Langosta roja, Mediterranean spiny lobster, is the Menorcan fish for this dish. If you cannot get it, buy live bogavante, clawed lobster, before you buy cooked tails. The claws change the broth, making it a little richer and sweeter, but the stew still works.
• •Tomato quality matters because there are so few ingredients. In season, grate ripe tomatoes. If the tomatoes are woolly and pale, use good canned crushed tomato and cook it longer until the oil separates. That is a compromise, not a crime.
• •Use water when the lobster is excellent. Use a light shellfish stock only when you are cooking with clawed lobster or the shells are weak. A strong fish stock can boss the whole pot around, and this dish belongs to the lobster.
• •Slice the bread thin and dry it well. Fresh bread collapses into paste and steals the broth instead of carrying it. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and slice it about 5mm thick.
• •The sofrito can be made the day before, and that is the sensible way for a dinner party. Finish with the lobster the day you serve it so the meat stays firm.
• •A dry white from Menorca is the cleanest match. Far from the island, pour a dry Albariño or another bright coastal white, not a sweet wine.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the sofrito through the tomato step up to 1 day ahead. Chill it, then bring it back to a simmer before adding the lobster.
• •Slice and dry the serving bread 1 day ahead; keep it uncovered or loosely wrapped so it stays firm.
• •The picada can be pounded 2 hours ahead if you leave out any lobster coral. Add coral only when finishing the stew, and simmer it fully.
• •The finished stew can rest 15 to 30 minutes before serving. Leftovers keep 1 day in the refrigerator; reheat gently and never let the tail meat boil.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 570g)