TABELIA

AUTHENTIC RECIPE

Suquet de peixCatalan Fish and Potato Stew

Catalan Fish and Potato Stew
Difficulty★★★★☆ Prep20 min Cook1 hr 15 min servings4

Fish and potatoes are simmered and finished with a bread-and-almond picada that brings the flavour and consistency together. This version of the Catalan coastal dish begins by making the stock.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated
100/ 100

AUTHENTICITY SCORE

Authenticity Score

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Ingredients (4 servings)

  • Monkfish flesh800 g
  • Shell-on prawnsHeads and shells on300 g
  • White-fish bones and trimmings500 g
  • Potatoes500 g
  • Tomatoes250 g
  • Onion150 g
  • Garlic15 g
  • Blanched almonds50 g
  • Bread40 g
  • Parsley10 g
  • Saffrona little
  • Olive oil70 ml
  • Water1.2L for stock and 100ml for adjustment1300 ml
  • Salt8 g

Method

120 min

Prepare the seafood and potatoes

  • 1 Remove the gills and blood clots from 500g fish bones and trimmings and wash well.
  • 2 Cut 800g monkfish into 4cm cubes and devein 300g prawns, leaving the shells on.
  • 3 Peel 500g potatoes, cut partway through with a knife and break into pieces about 3cm across.
  • 4 Chop 150g onion, 15g garlic and 10g parsley, and grate 250g tomatoes, leaving the skins behind.

Ready when

Continue when no hard bones or prawn veins remain in the seafood.

225 min

Make the fish stock

  • 1 Put the fish bones and trimmings and 1.2L water in a pot over medium heat and skim once it boils.
  • 2 Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, strain and measure 800ml. If needed, top up using no more than the 100ml water reserved for adjustment.

Ready when

Continue when the pale stock has taken on the aroma of the fish.

310 min

Make the bread-and-almond picada

  • 1 Heat 30ml oil in a wide pot and cook 40g bread, 50g almonds and 5g garlic over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
  • 2 Transfer to a mortar, add the parsley, 0.15g saffron and 50ml stock, and pound finely.

Ready when

Continue when the mixture forms a coarse paste with no large pieces of bread.

430 min

Simmer the potatoes in fish stock

  • 1 Put the remaining 40ml oil, the onion and the remaining 10g garlic in the same pot and sauté over low heat for 8 minutes.
  • 2 Add the tomato and cook down for 5 minutes, then add the potatoes, the remaining 750ml stock and 6g salt.
  • 3 Partly cover with the lid and simmer over low heat for 15–20 minutes.

Ready when

Continue when a skewer passes through the potatoes with almost no resistance.

510 min

Finish with seafood and picada

  • 1 Sprinkle the fish and prawns with 2g salt and add them to the pot.
  • 2 Loosen the picada with cooking liquid, return it to the pot and simmer over low heat for 8–10 minutes.
  • 3 Divide among serving dishes without breaking the fish and spoon over the sauce.

Ready when

The dish is ready when the centres of the fish and prawns are opaque and the cooking liquid lightly coats a spoon.

A view of Calella de Palafrugell, Costa Brava
Calella de Palafrugell, Costa BravaSpain Photo: Sweet Ice Cream Photography sweeticecreamphotography · CC0 (resized; display cropped)

About this dish

Suquet de peix is a fish stew that fishermen on the Catalan coast used to prepare aboard their boats. The Costa Brava tourism guide describes it as a dish made with fish that had not found buyers at the market.

The stew combines fish and potatoes with sautéed aromatic vegetables and picada and is now also served in coastal restaurants. The way the fish used changes with the catch preserves a connection between work at sea and cooking.

Port towns such as Cadaqués, L’Escala and Calella de Palafrugell have a history of fishing. Exploring the local cuisine through suquet reveals how the meals of people working at sea spread into the towns’ food culture.

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