Spanish white fish

NOTHING whets the appetite of the Spanish more than fish. Unfortunately, wild fish are becoming increasingly rare and fish farms are the norm along the Mediterranean coast.

Good results can be achieved with farmed sea bream and sea bass, provided you have the right ingredients and cooking skills, and look for absolute freshness when buying.

The criteria: Fresh produce must not smell of fish, and the eyes must be bright and clear. If you look behind the gills, there are no spots or slime, they are red and clean, the skin is fresh and shiny, and the flesh is firm and elastic when squeezed.

Fish can be steamed, roasted, fried or grilled. In Spanish cuisine, fish is often cooked in the oven with onions, garlic, vegetables or potatoes.

Gilthead seabream

(dorada)

To meet the demand, gilthead seabream are farmed. Dorada "a la sal", in a salt crust, is particularly popular from Alicante to Murcia. The fish is cooked whole packed in coarse sea salt. When the salt crust is removed, the skin also comes off, leaving behind the tender meat, which is best eaten with an alioli.

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Oven roast seabream

1 seabream (dorada) of 1.5 to 2 kg or several small specimens (gutted and scaled), 1 onion (cebolla), 2 potatoes (patatas), 4 cloves of garlic (dientes de ajo), 1 lemon (limón), 1 glass of good white wine (e.g. albariño), olive oil (aceite de oliva), sea salt (sal marina) and parsley (perejil).

Peel and chop the potatoes and onion. Fry them in a large, deep pan in plenty of oil, then remove them quickly and place them in an ovenproof dish or a deep baking tray.

Wash the sea bream well and score them twice diagonally on both sides, down to the bone, so that the heat can penetrate well. Place them on a bed of potatoes and onions. Sprinkle with salt, chopped garlic and parsley. Place half a lemon slice in each cut and drizzle the rest of the lemon juice over the fish.

If you like, you can add chopped tomatoes, green olives and fresh basil. Before placing in the oven, pour the glass of wine over the potatoes and spread the giltheads with butter.

There are two cooking methods. One is to cook them more slowly at 120 degrees for 45 minutes, adding a little of the stock from time to time, or you can put them in the oven preheated to maximum.

When the wine begins to boil and the skin begins to curl, about ten to 15 minutes later, take the fish out. In this case, however, you have to stand by the oven for most of the time, looking in to see if it is ready.

When it is ready, take it out, sprinkle it with the remaining stock and leave it to rest for a few minutes.

Sea bass (lubina)

The body is elongated and elegant, with a shiny silver-grey skin covered in scales. The white, firm flesh is of excellent flavour. No wonder it is one of the most sought-after sea fish.

Sea bass is also successfully farmed.

The result is a fish that weighs between 300 and 400 grams. A wild sea bass, on the other hand, can grow to a length of up to one metre and weigh several kilos.

Sea bass is easy to work with in the kitchen and combines well with everything. It separates easily from the bone and goes well with a variety of side dishes.

■ Sea bass fillets with saffron potatoes

Serves 4: 600 g sea bass fillets with skin (lubina, con piel), 500 g potatoes (patatas), 1/2 l vegetable stock (caldo vegetal), 300 g carrots (zanahorias), 1 sachet saffron (azafrán), 2 tablespoons cherry brandy (licor or aguardiente de cereza), salt, sugar, pepper, cayenne (cayena), 3 tbsp. butter, olive oil, 2 tbsp. crème fraîche (crema de leche), fresh herbs for the garnish.

Peel and slice the potatoes. Dissolve the saffron in the hot vegetable stock. Cook the potatoes until tender. Remove and keep warm. Put 200ml of the stock aside.

Slice the carrots, cover with a little water, add the cherry brandy, salt, sugar and cayenne pepper. Cover and cook. Remove, add a tablespoon of butter and purée with a hand blender. Keep warm.

Wash and dry the fish and season with salt and pepper. Fry the fish

on

the skin side in a little olive oil over a medium heat for about three to four minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cook for another minute or two.

Meanwhile, bring the saffron stock to the boil, add the crème fraîche and the rest of the butter and stir until foamy.

Arrange the fish decoratively on plates and garnish with the herbs.

■ Sea bass with vegetables

Cut a courgette (calabacín), an aubergine (berenjena) and a tomato (tomate) into very thin slices. Place the sea bass fillets (lomos de lubina) on the buttered

baking tray and place the vegetable slices on top of the fish - a layer of courgette, a layer of tomato and one with aubergine until the fish fillets are completely covered. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil and a few drops of lemon; so that nothing sticks, add a little fish stock to the tray.

Put the whole thing in a very hot oven and when the vegetables are browned - after about a quarter of an hour - put the fish on the plates. Now hold the baking tray at an angle so that the stock collects pour into a gravy dish, add a knob of soft butter and stir vigorously with a whisk until the sauce emulsifies. Pour over the fish and vegetables.

Red mullet (salmonete)

This small Mediterranean fish cannot be farmed as they grow too slowly, which is not very profitable.

A distinction must be made between the smaller 'Salmonetes de roca', rock red mullets of a reddish, shiny colour, also with dark stripes, which are considered tastier, and the lighter 'Salmonetes de fango’ with less firm flesh.

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Salmonetes al horno

1.5 kg mullets (salmonetes), 1 onion (cebolla), 1 clove of garlic (ajo), grated white bread (pan rallado), white wine (vino blanco), parsley (perejil), lemon (limón), olive oil (aceite de oliva), salt.

Score the mullet twice. Place some chopped onion and garlic on a baking tray, drizzle with heated oil. Place the mullets on top, side by side. Salt and add a little more of the chopped onion and garlic. Sprinkle with grated white bread and baste with a little oil and white wine. Cook in the oven for half an hour.

When the mullets are browned, add chopped parsley and lemon slices and serve immediately.

■ Fillets of mullet au gratin

1 kg of potatoes (patatas), 1 green pepper (pimiento verde), 1 onion (cebolla), 5 cloves of garlic (dientes de ajo), 4 fillets of mullet or 8 fillets of red mullet if they are small (lomos de salmonetes, ready to cook, the head should stay on), 1/4 l cream (nata liquida), 1 egg (huevo), parmesan cheese (queso parmesano), fresh basil (albahaca fresca), dried dill (eneldo), pepper (pimienta), lemon (limón), salt

Chop the onions, peppers and garlic and fry in a pan. When they begin to change colour, add the sliced potatoes, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with lemon juice and cover. Turn after five minutes and then two or three more times until the potatoes are browned and tender. Spread them out on the baking tray.

Remove the bones from the mullet fillets and place them on the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with a little lemon juice.

Whip the cream with the herbs, salt and pepper, add the egg and two or three spoonfuls of freshly grated Parmesan. Cover the mullet fillets with the cream. Bake in a hot oven (250 degrees) just before serving. In less than ten minutes the whole dish will be browned and the fish will be juicy.