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Recipe · Mallorcan

Mallorcan Suquet de Peix

Prep
25 min
Cook
45 min
Total
1 h 10 min
Serves
4 servings

Suquet de peix is the fish stew of the western Mediterranean — Catalonia, Costa Brava, Mallorca, Almería. Here on Mallorca it has its own version: with scorpionfish from Palma bay, almonds from the Pla, saffron and Mallorcan potato.

The technique comes from the boat. Fishermen cooked the unsellable catch over a fire with potatoes, water and oil — daily food at sea. When the dish moved from the boat to the harbour, restaurants added the picada — that paste of garlic, almond, bread and parsley that gives the suquet its density and depth.

This recipe follows the tradition of the island’s fishing villages. The only negotiable element is the fish — use what’s fresh today. The rest is strict.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg mixed rock fish — scorpionfish, sea bass, hake, cuttlefish — from Lonja Palma
  • 4 medium firm potatoes
  • 2 ripe tomatoes
  • 1 medium onion
  • 4 garlic cloves — 2 for the stew, 2 for the picada
  • 50 g raw blanched almonds
  • 1 thick slice of day-old farmer's bread
  • 1 small bunch of parsley
  • a generous pinch of saffron threads
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 800 ml fish fumet — made from heads and bones
  • 1 glass dry white wine
  • extra virgin Mallorcan olive oil
  • salt, white pepper

Method

  1. 1

    Make the picada

    Toast the almonds dry until they colour. Briefly fry the bread slice in oil until golden. In a mortar, pound 2 garlic cloves, the toasted almonds, the fried bread, the parsley leaves and a few saffron threads to a loose paste. Set aside.

  2. 2

    Prep the fish

    Clean the fish, remove large bones and cut into large pieces (8 cm). Season with salt and pepper and chill. Cuttlefish into 1 cm rings.

  3. 3

    Sofrito

    In a wide clay pot or deep pan, sweat the chopped onion in oil over low heat until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining 2 chopped garlic cloves and, when they start to colour, the peeled chopped tomatoes. Cook 10 more minutes until the sofrito is dry.

  4. 4

    Potatoes

    Peel the potatoes and slice into 1 cm rounds. Add to the sofrito with the bay leaf. Stir to coat with oil. Cook 5 minutes.

  5. 5

    Stock and wine

    Raise the heat, add the wine and let it almost evaporate. Add the hot fumet to cover the potatoes. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 12 minutes.

  6. 6

    Fish and picada

    Add the cuttlefish first and cook 3 minutes. Then add the fish pieces and the picada loosened with a little stock. Move the pan in circles rather than stirring (fish pieces would break). Cook 5-7 minutes until the fish is just done.

  7. 7

    Rest

    Turn off the heat, check for salt and let rest 5 minutes before serving. The sauce thickens off the heat.

  8. 8

    Serve

    Serve straight from the pot. With toasted farmer's bread to mop the sauce and a fresh white DO Binissalem.

Cook's notes

The secret to a good suquet is in three things: fresh fish — not frozen — a proper picada, and not stirring once the fish is in. The picada can be made by mortar or food processor, but the mortar gives better texture. If the suquet comes out watery, it was short on picada. If it comes out tight, short on stock. It's a stew that asks for practice.

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Rather we cooked it for you?

We serve Mallorcan Suquet de Peix at Restaurant Es Muntant, in Establiments. Table waiting, wood-fire on.

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