MOTHER OF ALL THE COCIDOS

La madre de todos los cocidos—the mother of all cocidos. Such has adafina been called. Adafina is a one-pot meal prepared by Sephardic Jews, a people who had a long-established community in Toledo before the expulsion order of 1492. The pot with meat, chickpeas and vegetables is put to cook before sundown on Friday and allowed to slowly cook overnight in the embers of the fire, to be served on Saturday for the Jewish Sabbath when it was prohibited to cook. 

Is this the origin of the Spanish cocido? Adafina is a one-pot meal with meat, vegetables and chickpeas that dates back to Spain's medieval Sephardic community. 

The present-day Spanish cocido, one-pot meal, and its antecedent, the olla podrida, probably is descended from this Sephardic dish. In the days of the Inquisition, conversos, Jews who had converted to Catholicism rather than face expulsion, added pork and sausages to the pot to demonstrate good faith. Adafina gradually evolved to be the cocido known in every region of Spain, a meal that, in addition to beef, vegetables and chickpeas, almost always includes pork, sausages and ham bone. 

The name adafina derives from the Arabic, meaning “covered,” as it once was cooked in the coals in earthen pit ovens. Variations of the name (worth knowing if you are searching indexes) are dafina, t’fina, and hamin (which means “hot”). 

In medieval Toledo the pot would not have included potatoes, a vegetable not known until after the New World was“discovered.” But, modern-day adafina, as made by Sephardic Jews from Morocco and Tunisia, does contain potatoes or even sweet potatoes as well as a palette of spices that includes pimentón (paprika), another New World contribution. It often includes whole wheat-berries and/or rice. The grains are seasoned, wrapped in cloth and cooked right in the pot with meat, vegetables and chickpeas.

Unshelled eggs are a typical addition to adafina. The eggs hard-boil in the slow-cooked pot and darken from the meat juices. While the eggs are not found in a Spanish cocido, the relleno, meatballs or rolls of ground meat or chicken that cook with the meats and chickpeas, definitely is very much a part of many Spanish cocidos and pucheros. Another difference: the adafina usually has honey, date syrup or even caramel, adding a subtle sweetness and emphasizing the deep color of the broth. 

This recipe is adapted from the adafina I enjoyed at Restaurante Adolfo in Toledo, during a week of special events devoted to Jewish heritage in Europe (see below for link). 

 The meat, chickpeas, and vegetables cook 3 or more hours in a slow oven. Should you wish to cook the adafina overnight, after bringing the water to a boil, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place in the oven preheated to 225ºF. Cook the adafina for 6 to 10 hours. Modern-day Sephardic cooks usually leave the pot on an electric hot-plate (placa) to stay warm overnight.

Strained broth can be served alongside.

The broth cooks down considerably in the long cooking and, unlike cocido, it is not usually served as a separate soup course. However, I decided to strain it and serve small cups of the caldo (broth) to my guests. 

You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy this heart-warming meal. Nor does it have to cook all night nor be served exclusively for the Saturday Shabbat midday dinner. I loved waking up to the aromas of that delicious food, knowing that dinner was ready any time I wanted to serve it. 

The adafina is a festive one-pot meal for the Jewish Sabbath.

Meat roll (this one of ground chicken breast with rice), marrow bone and brisket so tender it is falling into pieces.

These carrots roasted all night alongside the pot of adafina. I sprinkled them with olive oil, salt and pepper and wrapped them in foil. Deliciously sweet.

Serve meat, vegetables and chickpeas with a little of the broth ladled over.

Sephardic Cocido (Meal-in-a-Pot), Toledo Style
Adafina de Toledo

Two days before serving the adafina: Soak the chickpeas in water to cover overnight or at least 8 hours. 

One day before serving: Place meat, vegetables, meat roll and eggs in pot with water and start cooking on stove. Place in a very low oven (225ºF)  overnight (or, at least 4 hours).  

To serve the adafina: Remove cooking pot from the oven. Slice the meat roll and place on a platter with the meat and potatoes. Peel the eggs, cut them in half and place on the platter. Ladle some of the broth over the meat. If making the ajada sauce, separate one potato and the head of garlic. If you intend to serve broth, ladle it through a strainer.

To cook the adafina you will need a large (6-quart) stew pot with a tight-fitting lid that can go from stove-top to oven. A full pot is extremely heavy, so take care moving it into and out of the oven.

Serves 6-8.

For the meat roll:
Most recipes for adafina call for ground beef to make the meat roll or balls that cook in the adafina pot. I chose to substitute ground chicken breast.

1 pound ground chicken or veal
1 egg, beaten
½ cup uncooked rice
3 tablespoons minced onion
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of ground cloves

To prepare the meat roll:

Wrap meat roll in cloth.

Combine the ground chicken or veal, egg, rice, onion, parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg, ginger and clove in a bowl. Knead the mixture to combine well.

Cut a double-layer of cheesecloth into a 14 x 8-inch rectangle. Shape the chicken mixture into a 12-inch log and place it on the cheesecloth. Roll the log in the cheesecloth. Tie the ends with kitchen twine. Cook in the adafina pot.

For the adafina:
1 ½ cups dried chickpeas (about 10 ounces), soaked 6 to 12 hours
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 turnip, peeled
1 stalk celery
1 onion, unpeeled
1 meaty shin bone or marrow bone (12 to16 ounces)
2 ¼ pounds beef brisket
8-10 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1 head of garlic, not peeled, top sliced off

Meat roll (recipe above) wrapped in cheesecloth

6-8 small red potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled
2-inch cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon peppercorns
1 bay leaf
6 medjool dates
6 whole eggs, room temperature
Sprigs of parsley to garnish
Ajada garlic sauce to accompany (optional)

Ready to fill the big pot--at the top, brisket cut into two pieces and marrow bones; potatoes, garlic, celery, onion and turnip; and, on the platter below, a mesh bag containing chickpeas that have soaked overnight, a meat roll wrapped in cheesecloth, raw, unshelled eggs and a few dates. If you don't have a mesh bag for the chickpeas, just add them loose to the pot.

To prepare the adafina pot:
Drain the chickpeas. Place them in a mesh bag for cooking legumes.

Put the olive oil in the bottom of a large oven-safe stewpot. Put in the turnip, celery and onion. Place the shinbone and brisket on top. Add the water and bring to a boil.

As the water comes to a boil, keep skimming off the froth that rises to the top.

Skim off all the froth that rises to the top. Lower heat so the water bubbles gently. Carefully place the bag of chickpeas, the wrapped meat roll and the potatoes into the pot. Bring again to a boil and skim. Add the salt. Tuck the head of garlic in with the cinnamon stick, peppercorns, bay leaf and dates. Carefully lower the eggs into the pot. 

Cover and simmer the pot 1 hour.

Heat oven to 400ºF.

Remove lid and check to make sure that enough water remains—there should be enough liquid to almost cover the meat and potatoes. Add more water if needed.

Lower oven temperature to 225ºF. Very carefully transfer the pot to the oven.  Cook the adafina in the low oven at least 4 hours and up to 8 hours. (If the adafina will not be served for several more hours, turn the oven to “warm” (180ºF).

Remove the meat roll from the pot and discard the cheesecloth and twine. Slice the roll crosswise and arrange the slices on a platter. Remove the shin beef and brisket to the platter and cut them into serving pieces. 

Slow-cooked chickpeas are unbelievably tender. They darken from cooking with the beef.

With a slotted spoon, ladle the chickpeas onto the platter with the meat. Tent with foil and keep warm. Skim out the head of garlic and reserve it  and one potato to make ajada sauce, if desired.

Slow-cooked eggs darken too.

Remove the eggs and peel them. Place them whole or sliced on the platter. Arrange the potatoes and turnip around the meats on the platter. Discard cooked onion, celery, cinnamon and bay leaf. Spoon some of the hot broth over the meats and vegetables. 

Garnish the platter with sprigs of parsley. Serve immediately accompanied, if desired, with ajada garlic sauce.

White Garlic Sauce
Ajada Blanca

Sauce for meat and chickpeas.

Serve this sauce with the cooked meats, potatoes and chickpeas.

1 cooked head of garlic
1 small cooked potato
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt

Mash cooked garlic. 

Squeeze the cloves of garlic out of their skins into a small bowl. Mash them with a fork. Add the potato, cut in pieces, and mash it well. Stir in the oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt. If necessary, thin the sauce with a little broth from the cooking pot. It should be the consistency of thick cream.

Recipes for traditional Spanish cocidos:

Puchero Andaluz.

Cocido Madrileño.

Puchero Canario.

This year the Semana Sefardí in Toledo takes place 16-24 of March. More information and programming:

https://toledoguiaturisticaycultural.com/semana-sefardi/ 

https://redjuderias.org/ 

References for adafina recipes:

The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden (Alfred A. Knopf; 1996).
The Scent of Orange Blossoms, Sephardic Cuisine from Morocco by Kitty Morse (Ten Speed Press, 2001).
A Drizzle of Honey, The Lives and Recipes of Spain’s Secret Jews, by David M. Gitlitz and Linda Kay Davidson (St. Martin’s Press; 1999).
La Cocina Hebrea, La Gastronomía Melillense Conserjería de Cultura de Ciudad Autónoma de Melilla, 1997.
La Cocina Judía by Uriel Macías Kapón and Ana Benarroch de Bensadón (Red de Juderías de España; 2003).

Facebook groups: Sephardic Recipe Swap; SEC FOOD (Sephardic Educational Center). 

A FAMOUS FEAST FROM LITERATURE

The most memorable meal in the story of Don Quixote by Cervantes is certainly that of the bodas de Camacho, the wedding feast of a rich man named Camacho (who doesn’t, by the way, get the girl).  Don Quixote and Sancho Panza encounter some 50 cooks at work preparing the meal.  A whole young steer stuffed with a dozen suckling pigs is roasting on a huge spit.  Lamb, hare and chickens are stewing in enormous earthenware ollas. Loaves of bread are piled into a mountain and whole cheeses, stacked like bricks, form a wall.  A treasure chest of spices is at hand.  Cooks are frying sweet pastries in great cauldrons of oil, then dipping them into boiling honey syrup.

Sancho, who famously is always thinking of his stomach, cannot contain himself.  He begs permission to dip a crust of bread into one of the pots and is bidden by the cooks to skim off what he likes--and take the ladle too!  Happy, he scores three chickens and a couple geese for breakfast.

A dish fit for a rich man's wedding--braised chicken and meatballs in an almond-saffron sauce.

This chicken stew, rich with ground almonds, might well have been stewing in the huge pots at that wedding feast. The addition of meatballs (or chicken balls) turns it into rather a grand version of chicken pepitoria, a favorite fiesta dish in Spain.

I’m not cooking for any wedding events this week. However, I made a batch of meatballs in almond sauce (albóndigas en salsa de almendras) for a video-chat with students in a class on “Food and Culture in Spain” (with Dr. Martha Daas at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA). It’s a recipe that shows off the best of Spanish cooking with its subtle Moorish influences and that's not one of those familiar ones, paella or gazpacho or potato tortilla.

Later, I upgraded the meatballs. I cooked chicken in the rich almond sauce and combined it with the meatballs to make a fancy meal.

The recipe for wedding stew that appears in my book, Cooking from the Heart of Spain—Food of La Mancha, calls for chicken breast for the meatballs. While chicken breast makes a delightfully light dumpling, veal, pork or a combination can be used instead.  Another version is similar to the rellenos, or bread dumplings, that go into a cocido. The balls can also be made with chicken livers combined with bread, parsley and egg.

If the chicken dish is prepared with gallina, hen, or a mature boiling fowl, it is slow-cooked in water with aromatics until completely tender. The resulting broth is used in the sauce and the cooked meat stripped from the bones and added to the sauce with the meatballs. If you’re using tender chicken legs, braise them right in the sauce.

Steamed white rice makes the perfect accompaniment to this sensuous chicken dish with its “gravy” perfumed with golden saffron and ground almonds.

No wedding needed--serve this easy chicken and meatball dish for a dinner party.

Chicken thighs and drumsticks are succulent.

The rich gravy goes well with steamed white rice.

I've sprinkled threads of saffron and fried almonds on top of the stew.

Options for the meatballs: all chicken breast, or a combination of veal and pork, chicken livers, bread and ham.

Wedding Stew with Chicken and Meatballs
Guiso de Bodas de Camacho

Serves 6.

For the meatballs:
The meatballs can be prepared up to a day in advance, poached, then refrigerated. Reheat them in the stew during the last 15 minutes of cooking.

1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped onion
½ cup fine, fresh breadcrumbs
½ boneless, skinless chicken breast (12-14 ounces), cut in 1-inch pieces
1 egg, separated
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice
4 cups chicken broth or water

Use a food processor to finely chop the parsley. Add onion, breadcrumbs, chicken breast and egg yolk. Process until the chicken is uniformly minced. Add the nutmeg, pepper, salt, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.

Beat the egg white on high speed in a small bowl until it holds stiff peaks. Beat in the remaining lemon juice.

Fold the egg whites thoroughly into the ground chicken. 

Dip hands in water and lightly roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls.

Bring the broth or water to a boil. (Broth can be used in the chicken stew.) Reduce to a simmer and poach the meatballs for 4 minutes. They may not be completely cooked through, but will finish cooking in the stew. Remove and reserve.

For the chicken stew:
2 ¾ - 3 pounds legs and thighs (about 8 pieces)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Flour for dredging
¼ cup olive oil
1 slice bread, crusts removed
4 cloves garlic
1 cup blanched and skinned almonds
2 ¼ cups chicken broth
½ teaspoon saffron threads
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
Grating of nutmeg
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt

2 hard-cooked egg yolks (whites can be used for garnish, if desired)

1 cup dry white wine

Chopped parsley for garnish
A few toasted almonds for garnish

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and let them stand for 20 minutes. Then dredge them in flour, patting off the excess. Place on a tray.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Fry the slice of bread on moderate heat until golden on both sides. Remove. Add 2 cloves of the garlic and the almonds. Fry them on a medium heat until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve.

Brown chicken pieces before braising.

In the same oil fry the chicken pieces on a medium heat, until they are nicely browned on all sides, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer the pieces as they are browned to a large cazuela or deep sauté pan.

Crush the saffron in a mortar. Add 2 tablespoons of hot water and let it steep 10 minutes.

Grind bread, almonds.

Save a few fried almonds to garnish the finished dish. Place the fried bread, fried garlic plus 2 cloves raw garlic and remaining fried almonds in a blender with 1 cup of the broth. Blend until almonds are smoothly pureed. Add the saffron, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, parsley, salt and egg yolks. Blend again.

Pour the wine over the chicken pieces in the pan.  Raise the heat until the liquid begins to bubble. Add 1 cup of the remaining broth. Cover the pan and cook very gently for 30 minutes.

Turn the chicken pieces. Stir the almond-spice paste into the chicken. Taste for salt. Cover and cook until chicken is very tender, about 30 minutes more, adding additional broth as needed.

When chicken is tender, add the cooked meatballs to the stew and cook 15 minutes more.

Serve the stew in the cazuela or ladled onto a deep platter. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, a few toasted almonds and, if desired, sliced cooked egg whites.

Photo by J.D.Dallet.

More recipes for meatballs and dumplings:

Bread Dumplings (Rellenos).

Meatballs in Almond Sauce.

Low-Carb Meatballs in Almond Sauce.

And, another version of chicken in almond sauce:

Chicken in Almond-Saffron Sauce (Pepitoria).

FOR COCONUT LOVERS

In the wake of last week's chocolate cream custard extravaganza (dark chocolate, cream and egg yolks),  I was left with a cupful of egg whites. Here’s a recipe, especially for coconut lovers, to use them up.

Post-Valentine pleasures, sure to please coconut lovers--a heaping basket of chewy macaroons.

This recipe for coconut macaroons comes from the Clarisa nuns of the San Benito monastery in El Toboso, the La Mancha village that was the home of the fictional Dulcinea—“Sweetie”—Don Quixote’s ladylove.

The nuns make a variety of pastries and sweets to sell to the public at the convent’s entrance. On the day they make their famous pelusas, lemon sponge cookies, requiring 13 dozen egg yolks, they follow with these cocos to use up the whites.

The recipe has a secret ingredient—mashed potato, which helps keep the macaroons moist and chewy.

Macaroons are golden and toasty on the outside.

Inside, macaroons are moist and chewy.

Optional: drizzle the baked macaroons with a chocolate topping.

Coconut Macaroons
Cocos

Makes 30 (2 ½ -inch) macaroons.

1 small baking potato (4 ounces)
2 tablespoons milk
1 large egg, beaten
4 cups shredded unsweetened coconut (10-12 ounces)
3 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
3 large egg whites, room temperature
1 cup sugar
Chocolate topping, optional (recipe follows)

Cook the potato in boiling water until tender. Drain and peel the potato. Mash it in a small bowl with the milk. Combine the potato with the beaten egg.

Place the coconut in a bowl. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt over it and stir to combine.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment.

Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl. Beat on high speed until they hold stiff peaks. Beat in the sugar gradually. At low speed, beat in the potato-egg mixture.

Fold the coconut into the beaten egg whites.

Drop spoonfuls of batter onto baking sheets.

Drop tablespoons of batter onto the baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake in upper third of the oven 10 minutes. Change position of the baking sheets and bake 10 minutes longer, until tops of the macaroons are golden.

Cool the macaroons on the baking sheets. If using the chocolate topping, drizzle it over the cooled macaroons. 

Cool macaroons before removing from sheets.

Store macaroons in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3-4 days or wrap them individually in plastic wrap and freeze. 

Chocolate Topping
Glaseado de Chocolate

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
¼ teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon water

Melt chocolate in microwave.

Place the chocolate, oil and water in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat two more times until chocolate is melted and smooth.

Use the chocolate while warm to drizzle, dip or spread on cookies.

More recipes to use up egg whites:

Almond Puffs (Suspiros).

Meringue Topping for Puddings.

Meringue Milk Ice.

Walnut Torte.

And, if you started the macaroons with whole eggs, here are recipes to use up the yolks:

Custard Pudding (Natillas).

Catalan Custards with Burnt Sugar Topping.

Pumpkin-Almond Pudding.

Dark Chocolate Cream Custards.

CHOCOLATE—SHARE THE LOVE!

Why do chocolate and romance go together? While chocolate has never been proven to have aphrodisiacal properties, its consumption certainly soars on Valentine’s Day. Here’s a dessert to share the love. 

Chocolate = romance. A luscious chocolate custard for Valentine's Day.

Unlike airy chocolate mousse, this custardy chocolate dessert is dense, intensely chocolatey. While not overly sweet, it is sublimely rich. A little goes a long way. I’ve noted a yield of six half-cup servings, but the custard could easily be divided into much smaller servings.

Chocolate with no sugar added.

You need to start with good quality dark chocolate, at least 70 percent cacao. I’ve used chocolate with no added sugar. The sweetening is a combination of malitol and stevia. A touch of raisiny dessert wine, either Málaga Muscatel or Pedro Ximénez, complements the chocolate’s natural fruitiness.

The hot, eggy custard mixture melts the chopped chocolate. Blending turns it smooth and glossy.  

The dessert is best served at room temperature. It can be prepared in advance and refrigerated, but bring it to room temperature before serving.

How to serve the custards? With a luscious strawberry imbedded in the chocolate. With a sprinkling of Muscatel raisins that have been plumped in Muscatel or PX wine. With a dollop of crême fraiche or Greek yogurt (sweetened to taste). Sprinkled with chopped nuts. Spread on a crumb crust. The custards could probably be put into heart-shaped molds and unmolded after firming in the fridge.

Share the love! Rich chocolate custards are an easy, make-ahead dessert for a dinner party.

Chocolate marries well with berries, with raisins and figs, with oranges. 

Serving options: a dollop of Greek yogurt or crême fraiche.

Dark Chocolate Cream Custards
Crema de Chocolate Intensivo

Makes 6 (½ -cup) servings.

12 ounces dark (70%) chocolate
4 large egg yolks
Pinch of salt
¾ cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon sweet Muscatel or Pedro Ximénez wine

Chop the chocolate finely. (This is easy to do in batches in a mini food processor.) Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl.

Whisk the egg yolks in a heat-proof bowl with a pinch of salt.

Whisk hot cream into yolks.

Place the cream, milk and ¼ cup of sweet wine in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Whisk half of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Return the egg yolks to the saucepan. Cook on moderate heat, stirring constantly, until custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 3 to 4 minutes.

Hot custard melts chocolate.

Pour the hot custard over the chopped chocolate and allow to stand a few minutes to soften the chocolate. Stir to mix the chocolate and custard completely.

Blended custard is smooth and glossy.

Transfer to a blender. Add 1 tablespoon sweet wine and blend the mixture until smooth and satiny. Divide between custard cups or dessert glasses. 

More about Spain and the history of chocolate: 

Spain's chocolate connection.

More chocolate dessert recipes:

Chocolate-Covered Figs.

Hot Drinking Chocolate.

"Gypsy's Arm" Rolled Cake with White Chocolate.

Frozen Torte with Chocolate Cream Filling.

Failed Chocolate Cake.

Flourless Chocolate-Almond Cake.

A FAMILY-STYLE FISH SOUP

Emblanco is a white fish soup with vegetables, perfect as a starter for a family meal.

“Hoy, voy a poner un emblanco,” said the woman next to me at the village fish market. “Today I’m making ‘white fish soup’.” Emblanco is one of those everyday dishes in the pueblo, the sort of easy and economical dish that mothers might serve to children.

Typically, the main meal of the day, when the family sits down together, is served around 2 pm in the afternoon. (Yes, this custom is changing, as shops, offices and schools change to hora intensiva, not closing for the midday meal and long break.) La comida, the main meal, consists of primer plato (starter), segundo plato (main course) and postre (dessert). A light fish soup such as this one is the perfect starter for the comida. A main course with more substantial protein (fried fish fillets, meat or poultry) would follow.

The soup starts with a whole pescadilla, small hake. The head and spine are cooked first to produce a flavorful broth, then the fillets are added to the soup with vegetables. It's easy to remove any remaining bones after the fish has cooked. 

The best way to make this soup is to start with a whole, fresh fish. Use the head, bones and trimmings to make the caldo, the broth. Cook the pieces of fish in the broth, skim them out and, using your fingers, carefully remove all the skin and bones. This makes the soup kid-friendly. Cook the vegetables in the broth, then return the cooked fish to the pot, y ya está—that’s it.

Potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers and tomatoes cook in the fish broth. 

If you can get it, use a skinny Italian frying pepper in this recipe. Cut it crosswise into rings. Otherwise, cut green bell pepper into thin strips. Cook the tomato and onion whole. Before serving, slip the skin off of the tomato and break it and the onion into a few pieces and return them to the soup. My version has sliced leek instead of onion.

Some versions of this recipe call for the vegetables except for the potatoes to be pureed in a blender, then stirred back into the soup to thicken it (and perhaps disguise their presence from children). I like the original, with pieces of fresh veggies.

Start with a white-fleshed fish such as hake (merluza or pescadilla) or one of hake’s close relatives, such as cod, haddock, whiting or forkbeard. Also good are the flavorful, but bony, rockfish (cabracho, gallineta, rascasio).

If using a fairly large fish (more than 2 ½ pounds), it’s possible to cut 6-ounce fillets from the lomo, center, of the fish to serve as separate meal.

I separated the two 5.5-ounce fillets on the left to serve as a separate meal. I had about 9 ounces remaining for the soup. If you put all the fish in the soup, it easily serves 6. 

White Fish Soup
Sopa de Pescado Emblanco

Serves 4-6 as a starter.

Whole white fish (2 ½ pounds), filleted, head and bones reserved; fillets cut into 3-inch pieces
10 cups water
1 lemon
Sprigs of parsley
Salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium potatoes (12 ounces)
1 carrot, sliced
1 leek (white part only), sliced
1 small green pepper, sliced
1 whole tomato
Parsley to garnish

Place the fish head, bones and trimmings in a soup pot with the water, 1 slice of lemon, parsley and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered 10 minutes. Lower heat and add the fish fillets. Cook until the fish flakes easily, 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the fillets from the soup. Reserve them.

After cooking, use fingers to remove any remaining bones.

Pour the soup through a strainer. Discard lemon and parsley. When cool enough to handle, pick any flesh from the head and bones. (There are dollops of flesh in the "cheeks" and flaky bits on the "collar.")Discard the bones. 

Return the soup to the pot. 

Cut the potatoes in quarters lengthwise, then slice them crosswise. Add them to the soup with the carrot, leek, green pepper and tomato. Bring the soup to a boil and cook, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, 8-10 minutes. 

Remove the tomato with a slotted spoon. Slip off and discard the skin. Cut the tomato into several pieces and return them to the soup.

Immediately before serving, heat the soup thoroughly. Break the cooked fillets into pieces and add them to the soup with any reserved bits of fish picked from the bones. Add 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the soup or else serve it with sliced lemon for diners to add at the table. Garnish with parsley.

So many more Spanish fish soups!

Seafood Bisque.

Seafood Soup.

Mediterranean Fish Chowder.

15-Minute Fish Soup.

Broth with Fish and Clams.

Fish Soup with Sour Orange.