'TIS THE SEASON FOR SEAFOOD SOUP

‘Tis the season for one of my favorite soups, a lavish seafood extravaganza with fish and a couple kinds of shellfish. It’s perfect as a main course for family meals and for casual entertaining--maybe a tree-trimming party?—as well as an elegant starter for the cena de Noche Buena, the Christmas Eve dinner when it’s traditional to serve both  fish and shellfish (as well as meat).

My favorite seafood soup--perfect as a starter for Christmas dinner.

Deep flavour comes from shrimp shells. Soup has shrimp, clams and monkfish.

Or, serve it as a main course for a casual dinner party.

The soup needs a lot of prepping—peeling shrimp, making stock, seasoning and simmering the soup. But all of that can be done in advance. Fish stock can be made weeks before and frozen (or store-bought). Clams can be steamed open a day or two before and refrigerated. At mealtime, you only need to reheat the soup and cook the chunks of fish and the shrimp.

Save the heads and tails to add depth of flavour to the soup.

Crustacean shells (shrimp, lobster or crab) give this soup real depth of flavor, so, if possible, choose shrimp with heads and shells. If these are not available where you shop, buy extra shrimp to use in building flavor for the soup base. Shrimp for the soup can be small, medium or large, your choice. While the “vein” (it’s not really a vein), like a dark thread running the length of the shrimp, is edible, in jumbo shrimp it’s aesthetically unpleasing. Pull or cut it out. In small shrimp, the vein may not even be noticeable—don’t bother removing it.

Building flavour--shrimp heads and shells flavor the olive oil to cook the sofrito.

Two fillets of monkfish (not all of it is needed for the soup). The enormous monkfish head was used to make fish stock.

Use a solid-fleshed fish that won’t disintegrate in cooking. Monkfish (rape),halibut, snapper, grouper (mero) or bass (lubina) are all good. Monkfish is my favorite—the huge head is perfect for stock (below is a link to another post with a recipe for fish stock) and the tail is easy to separate into two bone-free segments, perfect for cutting into bite-size pieces.  Add the chunks of fish to the finished soup shortly before serving. They need only 5 to 10 minutes to cook.

If you leave the clams in their shells (typical), provide bowls at the table for discarding the shells. If you prefer, remove the shells after they are steamed open and before adding to the soup.

The fish soup is usually served with strips of bread fried in olive oil, although any crusty bread is fine. It can be embellished with cooked rice or vegetables (I used beet greens in one iteration).

Typically, the seafood soup is served with strips of bread fried in olive oil.

Holiday Seafood Soup
Sopa de Pescados y Mariscos

Serves 6 as a starter, 4 as a main.

1 pound whole, unpeeled shrimp
1 pound clams and/or mussels, scrubbed
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped leeks (white part only)
1 cup chopped onion½ cup chopped carrot
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup peeled and diced tomatoes
¼ cup brandy
½ cup white wine
½ teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)
8-9 cups fish stock
Pinch of cayenne
Salt to taste
Pinch of saffron threads, crushed
Sprig of thyme
1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 slices toasted bread
1 pound boneless monkfish, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup cream (optional)
Chopped parsley, to garnish
Fried bread to serve (optional)

Peel the shrimp, devein and reserve them, refrigerated. Keep the heads and shells, refrigerated or frozen

Put the clams in a small pan with ½ cup water. Cover and place them on a high heat until shells open. Reserve clams, refrigerated. Pass the liquid through a fine sieve. Add it to the fish stock.

Heat 1/3 cup oil In a deep pan. Add the shrimp heads and shells (or other crustraceans). Fry them, turning and pressing them with a wooden spatula so they release all their juices into the oil. Place a heat-proof strainer over a bowl. Empty the oil and shells into the strainer, allowing the oil to strain into the bowl. Discard the shells.

Return the shrimp-flavored oil to the pan. To prepare the sofrito, sauté the leeks, onion, carrots and garlic, stirring frequently, until onion begins to brown, 5 minutes. Add the tomato and continue frying until tomatoes are deep red and reduced to a jam consistency.

Add the brandy (you can flambé it, if you like) and let it cook off. Add the wine and stir until alcohol is cooked off (2 minutes). Stir in the pimentón.

Add 2 cups of the fish stock. Season with cayenne, salt, saffron, thyme and fennel. Cook until vegetables are soft, 15 minutes. Break the toasted bread into pieces and add it to the vegetables. Cook, stirring, 5 minutes more.

Discard the sprig of thyme. Puree the vegetable-stock mixture in a blender or food processor. If you want a really smooth soup, pass it through a chinoise strainer. 

Put the puree in a soup pot with the remaining fish stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Taste for salt. If fish stock was salted, the soup may not need additional salt. (The soup can be prepared in advance up to this point. Cool it and store, refrigerated, until ready to finish.)

Shortly before serving time, bring the soup to a boil. Add the chunks of monkfish and cook them until done, 8-10 minutes. Add the steamed clams to the soup to reheat. 

Sauté the peeled shrimp in a skillet with remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Keep them warm. Add the cream, if using, to the soup and heat. Add the shrimp to the soup and serve immediately. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Recipe for fish stock and another seafood stew here.

Another recipe with monkfish: Monkfish, Mariner's Style.

SPAIN'S FLAVORFUL SEAFOOD SOUPS

Suquet--a Barcelona fisherman's soup.

In my story in today’s Los Angeles Times food pages I take you on a seafood soup tour round the coastlines of Spain. Read the article and recipes here http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-spanish-soups-20120512,0,5951228.story. Then, read on for a recipe that didn't appear in that article.

With more than 3000 miles of coastline, it’s no wonder Spain has such a variety of seafood soups. Spain occupies most of the Iberian peninsula, surrounded by oceans—clockwise from the top, the Atlantic, the Cantabrian Sea and the Bay of Biscay, where Spain curves around to meet France. Skip across the land border with France, connecting Spain to the European continent, and you arrive on the Mediterranean coasts, stretching all the way from the French border (and not so distant from bouillabaisse country) to the Straits of Gibraltar.

Fishing boat on a Mediterranean beach.

Pass through the Straits and you are back to the Atlantic Ocean. (Portugal—no slouch when it comes to seafood soups—occupies much of the western coast of the Iberian peninsula.) Two Spanish archipelagos, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean between Spain and Italy, and the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic, off the coast of Morocco, contribute to Spain’s mix of seafaring soups.

Space limitations meant that one of my favorite seafood soup recipes didn’t make the cut in the LA Times —the fabulous suquet of Barcelona. So, here’s that recipe.

In Barcelona, on the Mediterranean, in the old Barceloneta fishing port, is a restaurant called El Suquet de L’Amirall. Here, chef/proprietor Quim Marqués, interprets the traditional dishes of fishermen and fishermen’s wives.

The name of the restaurant, “suquet,” comes from the best-known Barcelona fish soup. In his book about the seafaring cuisine of Barcelona, La Cocina de la Barcelona Marinera, Quim explains that suquet was typically made on board fishing boats when the catch was abundant.

The secret to suquet is the picada, a mixture of crushed garlic, parsley and almonds that is stirred into the broth. A lightly aromatic stock in which to cook the fish and a dollop of alioli, garlic mayonnaise, to serve it turn this Barcelona dish into one of the best seafood soups in the world.

What fish to use? Monkfish works really well because it's sweet and flavorful and won't disintegrate in cooking. Halibut or cod could be used as well, or, experiment with other white fish.

Suquet is flavored with a picada of crushed almonds and garlic.

Suquet del Pescador
Barcelona Fisherman’s Soup

For the stock:

1 to 2 pounds small fish, cuttlefish or squid, fish heads and trimmings, crustacean shells, small crabs, etc.
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 leek, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
1 bay leaf
parsley stems
freshly ground black pepper
10 cups water

Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Sauté the onion, leek, carrot, celery and garlic on a medium-high heat until onion is golden. Add crustaceans, such as shrimp heads and shells and sauté on high heat. Add the tomatoes and continue to fry and stir on a medium-high heat until tomato is reduced and beginning to brown.

Add remaining fish, heads and trimmings, salt, bay leaf, lemon, parsley, pepper and water. Bring to a boil, skim off the froth that rises to the top and reduce heat so liquid bubbles gently. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

Allow to cool for 15 minutes, then strain the stock. Press on the solids to extract all the liquid. Any bits of cooked fish or cuttlefish, without bones, can be picked out and saved to add to soup, if desired.

Makes about 8 cups of stock. Stock can be kept, refrigerated, up to two days or frozen for up to two months.

For the almond picada:

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup almonds, blanched and skinned
2 cloves garlic
1 slice bread, crusts removed
¼ cup parsley leaves

Heat the oil in a small skillet. Fry the almonds, garlic and bread, turning, until lightly browned on all sides. Remove and cool briefly.

Grind the almonds, garlic, bread and parsley, along with any remaining oil, in a mortar or in a mini food processor. The picada is ready to add to soup or stew.

For the alioli (garlic mayonnaise):

A dollop of garlic mayonnaise to serve.

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg, at room temperature
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or vinegar

Put the garlic and egg in a blender and pulse until garlic is finely chopped. With the motor running, pour in the oil in a slow trickle, allowing it to be absorbed by the egg before adding more. Blend in all the oil. The sauce will emulsify and thicken. Blend in the salt and lemon juice.

The sauce will keep, refrigerated, for up to 2 days.

Makes 1 cup of sauce.


For the fish soup:

2 tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium potatoes (such as russets), about 1 pound 6 ounces, peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick
almond picada (recipe above)
4 cups fish stock (recipe above)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 ½ pounds monkfish fillets, cut into chunks
½ pound small clams (such as Manila)
¼ pound peeled shrimp
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons alioli garlic mayonnaise (recipe above)

Cut the tomatoes in half and remove core. Use the coarse side of a box grater to grate the tomatoes. Discard the skins.

Heat the oil in a wide pot or deep skillet. Add the tomato pulp and fry on a medium-high heat until it turns darker in color. Add the sliced potatoes, the almond picada and the fish stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are almost tender, 15 minutes.

Add the wine, chunks of fish and clams. Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, until potatoes and fish are cooked and clam shells opened, 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook another 2 minutes, or until shrimp are cooked.

Place alioli in a small bowl and stir in 1/2 cup of the hot soup to thin it. Stir the alioli into the soup immediately before serving.

Serves 4 as a main course.

FIVE-STAR SEAFOOD SOUP

Seafood soup (sopa de pescados y mariscos).

 Spain has dozens of fish soups—Catalan suquet, Andalusian sopa de rape, Galican caldeirada, Murcia’s caldero. Most of these are basic fishermen’s fare—the catch of the day cooked up in sea water with olive oil and garlic plus bread or potatoes to add substance to the broth.

The Basque version of seafood soup also starts out as a simple marinero preparation. But over the years, as it was adapted by restaurant chefs, the soup has become the five-star standard of Spanish fish soups. So incredibly delicious that it rivals bouillabaisse and other famous seafood soups of the world. This one is outstanding enough to serve to guests on special occasions, especially if made with luxury ingredients such as lobster.

The difference between this soup and the everyday version is that it requires making a fish stock, then a sofrito, then adding enough fish and shellfish to really turn it into a main dish.

Fish head and trimmings for stock.

Crustacean shells (shrimp, lobster or crab) give the soup its depth of flavor, so, if possible, choose shrimp with heads and shells. The restaurant where I first tasted this impressive soup didn’t remove the shells from the clams. They made a little clatter as the soup was ladled into plates. And, you had to get your fingers into the soup to eat them.

When I buy fish, I save the heads, bones and trimmings in the freezer for making fish stock. Likewise, when I’m cooking shrimp, I buy whole ones, unshelled, and save the heads and shells for stock making.

Cuttlefish adds flavor to soup.

Cuttlefish (jibia, sepia) and squid are especially good for adding flavor to seafood stock. Plus, you can add the cooked cuttlefish to the finished soup.The cuttlefish pictured here is cleaned of innards, ink sac and cuttle bone. It's ready to cut up and cook. 

Simple fish broth

If using cuttlefish or squid, save it to add to the final soup. Likewise, cooked fish can be picked off the bones and saved for the soup.

Makes 10 cups broth

1 pound small fish, fish heads, bones, trimmings, shrimp shells, small crabs, lobster shells, whole cuttlefish, etc.
12 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 onion
strip of lemon peel
strip of orange peel
1 stalk of celery
small carrot, split lengthwise
several stems of parsley
pinch of thyme

Place all the ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil and skim. Partially cover and simmer for 1 hour. Strain the stock. Save bits of fish for the soup and discard remaining solids.

Saffron goes into this seafood soup.

Seafood Soup
Sopa de Pescados y Mariscos

Monkfish is such a perfect fish for this soup because it’s flavorful and firm, so it doesn’t disintegrate in the broth. Also good is rockfish, such as scorpionfish. I used monkfish plus skate plus cooked cuttlefish from the stock plus flakes of corvina, also from the stock.

Serves 6 as a starter or 4 as a main dish.
   
10 ounces whole, small shrimp with heads
½ pound Manila or littleneck clams (or 1/4 cup shucked clams)
¼ cup olive oil
2 leeks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup brandy
½ cup white wine
7 cups simple fish broth (see recipe above)
1 cup diced tomatoes, fresh or canned
pinch of cayenne
salt to taste
pinch of crushed saffron threads
2 slices toasted bread
1 pound boneless monkfish, cut into 1-inch pieces and/or lobster
    chunks
parsley to garnish
strips of bread fried in olive oil to garnish

Peel the shrimp and reserve them. Keep the heads and shells.

Put the clams in a small pan with 1/2 cup water. Cover and place them on a high heat until shells open. When cool, remove shells and discard them. Reserve clams. Sieve the liquid and add to the fish broth.

In a soup pot heat the oil and sauté the leeks, onion, garlic and carrot for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp shells and continue sautéing on a high heat until contents just begin to brown. Remove from heat.

Add the brandy. (If desired, it can be set alight and the mixture flambéed.) Then add the wine, 1 cup of the fish broth, the tomatoes, cayenne, saffron and salt to taste. Cook the mixture for 20 minutes.

Add the toasted bread, broken into pieces and cook another 10 minutes.

Place the contents of the pot in a food processor or blender and grind as smoothly as possible. Press the pulp through a sieve, discarding the remains of shrimp shells.

Place the pulp in the pot with the remaining fish broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. (The soup can be prepared in advance up to this point.)

Shortly before serving time, add first the chunks of monkfish or lobster to the soup and cook 3 minutes. Then add the reserved and peeled shrimp and cook 2 minutes. Then add the shucked clams and cook 2 minutes. Taste again for salt. Serve garnished with parsley and strips of fried bread.

MEDITERRANEAN SEAFOOD CHOWDER

New Englanders may protest that their beloved chowder has “protected geographical denomination” and can’t possibly have a Mediterranean inflection. But, according to the dictionary, chowder is “a thick soup or stew, typically made of clams or fish and various vegetables”. By that definition, this Spanish fish soup certainly qualifies. Besides, its creamy, white color and the inclusion of potatoes and ham make me think of chowder. So, although  chowder doesn’t really translate to Spanish, that’s what I named it in English.

 
In southern Spain, where this soup comes from, it’s called gazpachuelo, sopa Viña AB (the name of a brand of Sherry), sopa sevillana or sopa malagueña. Its lovely, creamy consistency comes, not from milk or cream, but from an emulsion of olive oil and egg.

Which is why I am making this Mediterranean chowder for dinner tonight.  A few days ago, writing about my new olive oil  (you can read about that here ), I prepared a batch of alioli, garlic mayonnaise—an emulsion of olive oil and egg. I served it as a party dip to guests, but I still have some left over—the starting point for the soup. I only needed to buy fish and shrimp.

I like to make this soup as a main course dish, loaded with chunks of fish. I usually use fresh hake (merluza), a white fish related to cod. I use the head, bones and trimmings to make a simple stock. The chunks of boneless fish cook quickly and are added to the soup at the very last minute. Any white fish could be substituted for hake. I used halibut when cooking in Seattle. Small clams are often included too. If you use them, steam them open first, discard shells and add the clams to the soup at the last minute.

MEDITERRANEAN SEAFOOD CHOWDER
GAZPACHUELO

Don’t boil the soup after you whisk in the egg-oil mixture or it will separate.

Serves 6.

1 egg, room temperature
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
8 cups simple fish stock (recipe follows)
1 ½ cups diced potatoes
¼  cup shelled peas, fresh or frozen
1 ½  cups boneless chunks of white fish
¼ cup chopped serrano ham
1/3 cup peeled shrimp (3 ounces)
¼ cup dry Sherry
salt, to taste

Place the egg in a blender container. With the motor running, add the oil in a slow stream until it is thick and emulsified. Blend in the lemon juice and salt. Set aside.

Put the fish stock in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and simmer, covered, until tender, about 15 minutes. Add the peas and cook 5 minutes more.

Then add the chunks of fish, ham, shrimp and Sherry. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

With the motor running, ladle some of the hot soup into the emulsion in the blender. Remove the soup from the heat and whisk the emulsion into the soup. Serve immediately. The soup can be reheated, but do not boil.
   
Simple fish stock:

Makes 10 cups stock. Remaining stock can be frozen.

1 pound small fish, fish heads, bones, trimmings plus any shrimp shells
12 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
½ onion, sliced
strip of lemon peel
strip of orange peel
1 stalk of celery
small carrot, split lengthwise
several stems of parsley
pinch of thyme

Place all the ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil and skim. Partially cover and simmer for 1 hour. Strain the stock and discard solids.