Pescado a la Talla Afromestizo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Hinged wire fish-grilling basket (rejilla)
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Coconut-wood fire, grill, or fire pit

Instructions

1. 1

   Butterfly and salt the fish

   Have your fishmonger scale, gut, and butterfly the snapper through the back: cut along one side of the spine and open the fish flat like a book, belly and head still attached. It should lie open in one piece, skin down, flesh up. At home, rinse it, pat it dry, and score the thickest parts of the flesh with two or three shallow cuts so the adobo can reach in. Rub both sides with the cut limes, then salt the flesh well with the sea salt. The fish is opened flat so every inch of flesh meets the fire and the adobo at once. That is what a la talla means in practice, whatever the etymologists argue.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium. Toast the costeño, guajillo, and pasilla oaxaqueño separately, pressing each flat for a few seconds a side until it softens and turns fragrant, about 20 to 30 seconds. The costeño is small and thin and burns fast, so watch it. The pasilla oaxaqueño is already smoked; you are waking it up, not blackening it. Burned chile turns the adobo bitter and there is no fixing it later.

   Chile costeño is the chile of this coast, bright and fruity with a clean heat. The pasilla oaxaqueño carries the smoke. Together with guajillo they give you the brick-red color and the depth. This is not the place for generic dried chiles.
3. 3

   Soak the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water, not boiling. Boiling water cooks the skins and makes the adobo bitter; hot water softens the flesh and lets the flavor come through clean. Soak 20 minutes, until fully pliable. Reserve a cup of the soaking water and drain the rest.

4. 4

   Blend the adobo

   Into the blender go the drained chiles, achiote paste, garlic, toasted cumin, oregano, allspice, cloves, vinegar, and kosher salt. Add half a cup of the reserved soaking water and blend until completely smooth, a full two minutes. Add more soaking water only if the blender struggles. You want a thick paint, not a soup. If the blender leaves bits of costeño skin behind, pass it through a sieve. The adobo should be deep brick red, glossy, and smell of smoke and spice.

   A blender is the right tool here. No me vengas con atajos about the rest of it, but for grinding soaked chiles smooth, the blender beats the molcajete and the women on the coast use one too.
5. 5

   Fry the adobo

   Melt the lard in a small skillet or cazuela over medium heat. When it shimmers, add the adobo. It will sputter and spit, so stand back. Fry it, stirring constantly, for five to seven minutes, until it darkens a shade and the fat starts to break out at the edges. La manteca es el sabor. Raw adobo tastes flat and sharp; fried adobo tastes round and deep. This is the step that separates a serious talla from a sad one. Let it cool to warm.

6. 6

   Paint and marinate

   Lay the butterflied fish skin-side down. Spread a thick coat of the warm adobo over all the flesh, working it into the scored cuts, into the spine, and into the head. Hold back about a third of the adobo for basting at the fire. Let the fish marinate at least 30 minutes while the coals come down, longer if you have it. The flesh needs time to take the color and the salt. Así se hace y punto.

7. 7

   Build the coconut-wood fire

   Build a fire with coconut wood or husks and let it burn down to a bed of even, ashed-over coals, about 30 to 45 minutes. Coconut wood burns hot and leaves a sweet smoke that is the signature of the Costa Chica beach fire. If you cannot get it, hardwood lump charcoal will cook the fish, but it will not perfume it the same way; a few soaked coconut husks thrown on the coals get you closer. Never use lighter fluid. You will taste it in the fish. Set a hinged wire fish basket nearby and brush it with lard so the skin will not stick.

8. 8

   Grill skin-side first

   Lay the fish flat in the oiled basket, close it, and set it skin-side down over the coals. Grill skin-side down for the first 12 to 15 minutes, basting the flesh with the reserved adobo two or three times. The skin chars and crackles and shields the flesh from drying while it cooks from below. Keep the coals moderate. If the skin blackens before the flesh turns opaque, your fire is too hot, so raise the basket.

   The basket is not optional gear for a whole butterflied fish over a live fire. Without it you will leave half the skin on the grill and tear the fish trying to turn it.
9. 9

   Flip to set the adobo

   Flip the basket and grill flesh-side down for just 4 to 6 minutes, to caramelize the adobo and set those dark, smoky edges. The fish is done when the flesh is opaque to the bone and flakes at the thickest part behind the head. A 3-pound fish takes 20 to 25 minutes total. Pull it the moment it flakes; fish goes from perfect to dry fast. While it finishes, lay the whole plátanos macho right on the coals, turning until the skins are black all over and the insides are soft and sweet.

10. 10

    Serve from the fire

    Bring the fish to the table in the basket, or slide it whole onto a peltre platter. Peel and split the charred plátanos alongside. Set out warm corn tortillas, raw onion rings, and lime halves so everyone builds their own tacos straight off the fish. Scatter toasted ajonjolí over the top if you like. This is a dish you eat with your hands, standing around the fire, pulling the flesh off in pieces. La tercera raíz no es nota al pie. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Chef Tips

• •Chile costeño is the chile of this coast, small, red, fruity, with a clean heat. Look for it in mercados that serve Guerrero and Oaxaca, or order it dried online. If you truly cannot find it, add two more guajillo and a chile de árbol for the heat. That is a compromise, not an upgrade, and the adobo will miss the costeño's brightness. Now you know what you are missing.
• •Buy the whole fish, head and skin on, and do not let anyone fillet it. Pargo or robalo is right; a big mojarra works too. The skin shields the flesh over the fire and the head holds the sweetest meat. If the fish does not smell like clean ocean, do not buy it. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •Coconut wood is not a detail. The Costa Chica cooks on leña de coco because the coast is full of it and the smoke is sweet. No coconut wood? Use hardwood lump charcoal and throw a few soaked coconut husks on the coals. Never lighter fluid. You will taste it in the fish and it will ruin everything.
• •This fish belongs to a whole table. On the Costa Chica it comes with arroz, with boiled or fried yuca, with sweet grilled plátano macho, and the same coast grinds cacahuate into a deep encacahuatado, ground peanut, not peanut butter. Coconut, peanut, sesame, plantain, yuca: that is the African pantry that built this cooking. Serve the fish as the center of that table, not alone on a white plate.
• •Read the label on your achiote paste. The good stuff is mostly ground annatto seed with a little garlic, spice, and vinegar. The cheap stuff is cornmeal and red dye. If all you can find is dyed paste, buy whole achiote seeds, toast them lightly, and grind them with the spices instead. Achiote is color and earthy flavor, not just red.

Advance Preparation

• •The adobo can be made three to four days ahead and refrigerated; the flavor only deepens. It freezes well, so make a double batch and keep half for the next fish.
• •You can butterfly and salt the fish, paint it with adobo, and marinate it covered in the refrigerator for up to a day. Bring it back to cool room temperature before it goes over the fire so it cooks evenly.
• •Light the coconut wood about 45 minutes before you want to eat. The fish marinates while the fire burns down to coals, so the two clocks run together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)