Sopa de Peix Mallorquina

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy pot, 5 litres
• •Fine sieve or chinois
• •Mortar and pestle
• •Ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the fish

   Rinse the rockfish, frames, and heads under cold water, removing any blood from the bones and gills if the heads still have them. This matters. Blood makes a fish broth taste muddy before you've even begun. Salt the firm fish pieces lightly and keep them cold for later.

   Ask the fishmonger for clean white fish bones, small rockfish, gurnard, red mullet, snapper heads, or monkfish bone. Avoid oily fish like mackerel or sardines here; they take over the pot.
2. 2

   Build the sofrito

   Warm 60ml of the olive oil in a wide pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion, leek, carrot, 2 sliced garlic cloves, and a pinch of salt. Cook slowly for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is soft and golden at the edges. Add the grated tomato and cook another 12 to 15 minutes, until the liquid is gone and the oil shows red at the edge. That slow sofrito, the cooked-down onion and tomato base, is where the soup gets its sweetness.

3. 3

   Simmer the broth

   Stir in the pimentón for 10 seconds, then add the white wine and let it reduce by half. Add the cleaned rockfish and bones, the bay leaf, and 1.5 litres cold water. Bring it just to a tremble, skim the surface, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Do not boil it hard. A fish broth is not a punishment; rough heat gives you rough soup.

4. 4

   Strain it clean

   Set a fine sieve over a clean pot and strain the broth without pressing hard on the bones. Pressing forces bitterness and cloudy bits through. You should have about 1.1 to 1.2 litres of broth. Taste it now and add salt until it tastes clearly of the sea, not just of hot water.

5. 5

   Make the picada

   Toast the saffron for a few seconds in a dry pan, just until it smells warm, then crumble it into a mortar. Add the pine nuts, parsley, the remaining 2 garlic cloves, a pinch of salt, and the remaining 20ml olive oil. Pound to a rough paste. Picada is not decoration; it thickens the broth lightly and gives the saffron somewhere to bloom.

6. 6

   Finish the fish

   Bring the strained broth back to a gentle simmer. Stir in the picada and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the firm fish pieces and cook 4 to 6 minutes, depending on thickness, until the fish just flakes. Grind in a little black pepper. If you cook the fish past done, it will forgive you once. Not twice.

7. 7

   Scald the bread

   Lay the thin slices of day-old bread in warm deep bowls, or in one shallow serving dish. Ladle the hot soup over the bread so it softens and swells but still holds its shape. Set a few pieces of fish on top of each bowl and spoon over the golden broth. Serve at once, with the bread fully soaked. Tal como se hace allí.

Chef Tips

• •Good fish bones matter more than expensive fillets. Ask for small rockfish, gurnard, red mullet, scorpionfish if you can get it, monkfish bone, or snapper heads. Use what the market has that smells clean and sweet.
• •Do not use salmon, tuna, mackerel, or sardines for the broth. They are good fish in their own dishes, but here they make the soup heavy and oily.
• •The bread should be thin, dry, and plain, not sourdough so sharp it fights the broth. Mallorcan sopes are very thin slices; if you don't have them, slice a country loaf thinly and let it dry overnight.
• •A spoon of allioli on the side is welcome in many island kitchens, especially if the fish is served separately. Stirring it into the whole pot is not the same thing.

Advance Preparation

• •The fish broth can be made up to 24 hours ahead. Strain it, cool it quickly, and refrigerate it covered; finish with the picada and fresh fish when you serve.
• •Slice the bread the day before and leave it loosely covered so it dries a little. Fresh soft bread collapses too quickly in the bowl.
• •The picada can be pounded a few hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator, but add it to the broth only at the end so the saffron stays clear and fragrant.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 390g)