What suquet de peix is
Suquet de peix is a brothy-saucy fish stew of the western Mediterranean — shared between Catalonia, the Costa Brava, Mallorca and the Costa de Almería. The name comes from “suc” (juice) — the stew is more sauce-bound than a soup, less liquid than a casserole, with fish and potatoes in a thick, fragrant sauce.
The secret is in the picada — a paste of almonds, garlic, bread and parsley stirred in at the end, which gives the sauce its depth.
What makes it distinctive
- The fish: has to be fresh. Classically uses local-bay species — scorpionfish (“cap-roig”), sea bass (“llobarro”), hake (“merluza”), often combined with squid or prawns. Selection changes with the day’s catch.
- The picada: without it, it’s just fish in tomato sauce. With it, it becomes an island specialty.
- The potato: takes up the sauce and makes the dish filling. On Mallorca the local potato varieties are used (the “patata de Sa Pobla” has its own IGP).
History
Suquet is a fisherman’s stew. On a fishing boat the unsellable catch (too small, undesirable) was cooked with potatoes and olive oil and eaten during days at sea. The picada is the refinement that happened in port restaurants when the suquet became a restaurant dish.
On Mallorca it’s particularly common in the port towns Port de Sóller, Port de Pollença, Cala Figuera — the old fishing villages. In Palma it appears on menus in the Lonja and in Santa Catalina.
Seasonality
Year-round — but best fish in spring and autumn. In high summer the stew is too heavy for many. In deep winter Mediterranean fishing on the island is muted.
Suquet at Es Muntant
We cook suquet de peix seasonally, depending on what’s at the Lonja. Our fish comes daily from the Lonja Palma fish market — if we get enough scorpionfish and sea bass in the morning, suquet goes on the daily menu. If not, other fish dishes appear (lubina, sepia).
If you specifically want it: call in the morning or the day before — we can prepare it on order.