Suquet de Peix

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide cazuela de barro, braiser, or heavy pot, 28-30cm
• •Mortar and pestle
• •Fish spatula or wide spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the fish

   Pat the fish dry and season it lightly with salt. Set it aside while you build the stew. This short rest firms the surface a little, so the pieces stay cleaner in the pot instead of shedding into the broth.

   Cut the fish large, about 5cm pieces. Small cubes overcook before the potatoes are ready.
2. 2

   Fry the picada base

   Warm the olive oil in a wide cazuela or heavy pot over medium heat. Fry the bread until golden on both sides, then lift it out. Fry the almonds and the 2 whole garlic cloves until the garlic is lightly golden, not dark, then lift them out too. Leave the flavored oil in the pot.

3. 3

   Cook the sofregit

   Add the chopped onion to the same oil with a pinch of salt and cook low and steady for 12 to 15 minutes, until soft and golden. Add the sliced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the grated tomato, the scraped ñora flesh or pimentón, and the bay leaf. Cook until the tomato is thick, darkened, and the oil shows at the edges, about 15 minutes. This is the floor of the dish. Rush it and the suquet tastes watery.

4. 4

   Add potatoes

   Add the wine and let it bubble down until almost gone. Add the cracked potatoes and turn them through the sofregit until stained red-gold. Pour in the fish stock, add a small pinch of salt, and bring it to a lively simmer. Cook uncovered for 18 to 22 minutes, until the potatoes are nearly tender and the broth has begun to thicken from their rough edges.

5. 5

   Make the picada

   While the potatoes cook, pound the fried bread, almonds, fried garlic, and parsley in a mortar with a pinch of salt until you have a coarse paste. Loosen it with 2 or 3 spoonfuls of hot broth from the pot. A food processor works if it must, but keep it rough; picada should thicken the broth, not vanish into it.

6. 6

   Cook the fish

   Nestle the fish pieces into the pot, and add the prawns if using. Spoon a little broth over the top, cover, and simmer gently for 5 to 7 minutes, just until the fish flakes and the prawns turn pink. Do not boil hard and do not stir. Shake the pot by the handles if you need to settle everything.

7. 7

   Finish with picada

   Stir the loosened picada into the broth around the fish, moving carefully so the pieces stay whole. Simmer 2 minutes more, then turn off the heat and rest the suquet for 5 minutes. Taste for salt. Serve from the cazuela with bread for the sauce, because the sauce is half the reason you made it.

Chef Tips

• •Use fish that holds together: monkfish, hake, cod loin, halibut, grouper, or sea bass in thick pieces. Thin fillets are for another supper; here they break before the potatoes are done.
• •If tomatoes are poor, use good canned crushed tomato. For a cooked sofregit, that is not a shame. It is better than a hard pale tomato pretending to be ready.
• •Crack the potatoes with the knife instead of cutting clean slices: push the blade in, then twist so the piece breaks. Those rough edges give starch to the broth and make the suquet taste like stew, not soup.
• •Ñora gives the Catalan sweetness and red depth. If you cannot find it, use sweet pimentón, preferably Spanish. Use it gently and never scorch it, or the broth turns bitter.
• •Serve with a white from Catalonia if you can find one, such as Garnatxa Blanca or Xarel-lo. Otherwise pour a dry, clean white that will not fight the garlic and fish.

Advance Preparation

• •The fish stock can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept chilled, or frozen for 2 months.
• •The sofregit can be cooked a day ahead. Rewarm it gently, then continue with the potatoes and fish.
• •Do not cook the fish ahead if you can avoid it. The stew can wait up to 20 minutes off the heat after finishing, but reheated fish toughens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 560g)