Fideuà
Ingredients for 8 persons
- 1 kg varied fish (for stock)
- 1 monkfish
- 1 cuttlefish
- 1/2 kg squid
- 1/2 kg fresh mussels
- 200 gr fresh clams
- 8-10 large prawns
- 8-10 large scampi
- 5-6 small pieces white fish (grouper or similar, about the size of 1/2 fish finger each piece)
- 2 onions
- 5 tomatoes
- 3-6 garlic cloves (to taste)
- 250 grs fideua noodles (short, thick spaghetti with a hollow core. Use spaghetti if other not available)
- saffron
- sea salt, pepper, olive oil, and parsley
Preparation: To make the stock, fill a large saucepan with water to half its height and bring to the boil. Place the 1kg fish in the boiling water, adding 1 chopped tomato and 1/2 chopped onion. Leave to boil on a medium flame for at least 1/2 hour. You could use fish stock cubes instead, but making one’s own stock is always best if possible.
On a separate saucepan, bring water to the boil -about half height again- and add the mussels. Cover and let boil until done (about 5 minutes). Reserve 8 good looking ones on the half-shell, shell the rest and reserve the meat.
Take a large paella pan -or a large flat-based frying pan- and add 2 tbsp olive oil. Fry the prawns and scampi for just 2-3 minutes and reserve.
Coarsely chop the rest of the tomatoes and onion as well as the cuttlefish and squid. Also peel and slice the garlic cloves. Add 2 more tbsp olive oil to the paella pan, bringing it back to a hot flame. Let it heat up, then add the tomatoes, onion and garlic. Stir for 2 minutes, then add the cuttlefish and squid. Keep stirring to avoid the fish sticking to the pan as it fries. After 4-5 minutes cooking, add the mussels’ meat and white fish pieces. Stir for a further 1 minute, then add enough fish stock for 1/2 boil + what the pasta will require. Don’t worry if it’s short, you can always top up later. Add salt and pepper to taste and the saffron. Leave to boil on a medium fire for 1/2 hour. Check and correct salt.
Now, add the clams and noodles to the paella pan, making sure they are evenly distributed. Leave to boil until the pasta is cooked and the stock has all been absorbed. Just before it’s ready, add the scampi, prawns and on-shell mussels and a sprinkle of Parsley.
Presentation: Remove from the fire and leave to rest covered for 5 minutes -newspaper, tea towels and kitchen foil all make nice covers. Add thick lemon slices along the border of the pan just before serving.
Fideuà, like Paella, is typically taken on the pan to the centre of a large table, where each person takes small servings onto an individual plate. If individually served, make sureto serve the noodles first, then top with 1 of each prawn, scampi and mussel, adding a chunk of lemon on the side of the plate.
Fideuà is often served with a dollop of All-i-oli, a thick, strong garlic sauce.
Cooking tip: Any fish will go well in a Fideuà. Feel free to experiment! Try any combination of white fish, shellfish and an arthropod. You could try replacing the squid by octopus and the shell-on mussels by shell-on scallops for extra posh.
Timing a Fideuà is difficult, as times depend on the fish, the pan -especially its size- and the heat. Use the times above as a guide but make sure you let your instincts prevail.
Squid and cuttlefish can be chewy if not cooked long enough. That’s why they enter Fideuà before the rest of the fish.
Make sure you don’t add too much stock. It’s easy to add more if you’re short, but add too much and you’ll have a soggy soup rather than a paella-like pasta wonder.
About this dish: Fideuà or Fideuada, from fideu, Catalan/Valencian for “noodle”) is a typical dish of Valencia, Spain. It originated in the 1960s in the city of Gandía when noodles were used instead of rice in the popular dish paella.
There are many variations of it with different ingredients, but it is usually made with seafood and fish, and optionally served with allioli sauce.
Curiosity: Relatively obscure until very recently, Fideuà has quickly become a favourite at Spain’s top restaurants. Its versatility, flexibility and the ability to use the freshest seasonal produce in its preparation make it the perfect blend of tradition and modernity for the aspiring star chef to make his/her mark.
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