Seafood recipes
Atlantic and Mediterranean fish and shellfish, cooked simply.
12 recipes
Almejas a la Marinera
Galician sailor-style clams opened in a garlicky white-wine sauce brightened with paprika and thickened with a whisper of bread or flour. It is a dish that lives or dies on fresh clams and good bread to mop the pan.
Angulas
Baby eels flash-cooked in an earthenware cazuela with olive oil, garlic and a single dried chilli, a once-humble Basque treat now guarded as a luxury. The whole ritual is about timing: seconds too long and the delicate elvers toughen.
Bacalao al Pil-Pil
A cornerstone of Basque cooking: salt cod poached gently in olive oil with garlic and guindilla until its own gelatin emulsifies the oil into a pale, glossy pil-pil sauce. The magic is entirely in the wrist, coaxing the sauce together with patience.
Calamares
Squid rings in a light, crackly batter, Madrid's ultimate bar snack and the heart of the city's famous bocadillo de calamares. A blazing-hot fryer, a squeeze of lemon and a smear of aioli are all it asks.
Chipirones en su Tinta
Baby squid simmered in a jet-black sauce of onion, tomato and their own ink, this Basque classic is dramatic to look at and gently sweet to eat. The ink lends a glossy, briny depth that turns a plate of white rice into a feast.
Mejillones a la Marinera
Galician mussels steamed open in a bright sauce of white wine, onion, garlic and tomato, a dish that captures the abundance of the Atlantic rías. It is fast, cheap and generous, meant to be eaten with fingers and mopped up with bread.
Merluza en Salsa Verde
Hake in green sauce is a cornerstone of Basque cooking, its emulsion of olive oil, garlic and parsley built by gently shaking the pan rather than stirring. Delicate and elegant, it often gains clams, peas or asparagus to make a whole meal.
Percebes
Percebes, the goose barnacles prised from Galicia's storm-lashed rocks, are among Spain's most coveted seafood, tasting of pure concentrated ocean. They need almost nothing done to them; a brief plunge into fiercely boiling seawater is all that stands between the rock and the plate.
Pulpo a la Gallega
Pulpo a la gallega is Galicia's emblematic octopus dish, tender slices fanned over potato and dressed simply with olive oil, sea salt and smoked paprika. Traditionally served on a wooden plate at country fairs, it lives or dies on the texture of the octopus.
Salpicón de Marisco
Salpicón de marisco is summer on a plate: a cold, bright tangle of shellfish and crunchy raw vegetables held together by a sharp sherry-vinegar dressing. Its success depends entirely on gently cooked, well-chilled seafood and a good dice.
Txangurro a la Donostiarra
Txangurro a la donostiarra is a Basque holiday showpiece: sweet spider crab meat folded into a brandy-laced tomato and leek sofrito, packed back into the shell, topped with breadcrumbs and browned under the grill.
Zarzuela de Mariscos
Zarzuela is Catalonia's grand seafood stew, a colourful medley of fish and shellfish simmered in a saffron-tinged tomato broth and thickened at the end with a fragrant almond picada. It is festive cooking meant for a crowd and a bottle of wine.
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