MY MEDITERRANEAN DIET

Happy International Mediterranean Diet Month!  Created in 2009 by Oldways and the Mediterranean Foods Alliance, Med Diet Month celebrates the delicious foods and wide-ranging health benefits associated with the Mediterranean Diet. (Oldways is a nonprofit food and nutrition education organization, with a mission to guide people to good health through heritage.)  

The Mediterranean Diet is a way of eating based on the traditional foods of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The “poor” diet of the people of the southern Mediterranean, consisting mainly of fruits and vegetables, beans and nuts, healthy grains, fish, olive oil, small amounts of dairy, and red wine, proved to be most likely to lead to lifelong good health. It has been studied and noted by scores of leading scientists as one of the healthiest in the world.

Seafood--one of the ingredients of a healthful Mediterranean diet. In the center are fillets of hake and on the left, the hake's head for the stock pot. Above the hake is a rascasse, also for the stock. Jumbo shrimp are at the top. At the bottom are cigalas, aka sea crayfish, scampi or Dublin Bay prawns. These are so small, I'm putting them in the stock pot. Squid, cut in rings is on the left. Some small clams in the center, mussels on the right. Not visible are fillets of sea bass and slices of monkfish.

I celebrate the Mediterranean diet just about every day! In fact, I’m a gold medalist! (Take the Oldways quiz here and find out “How Mediterranean is your diet?”)

But it wasn’t always so. When I came to live on the shores of the Mediterranean, more than 40 years ago, I was disappointed to learn that you can’t eat olives straight off the tree (they have to be sweetened in brine first). In those days, olive oil was so raunchy I refused to use it. I stuck to butter and margarine for a very long time. I wasn’t crazy about garbanzos and lentils, either. Whole grains were not part of the heritage of this Mediterranean village! I got wheat ground at a local mill, took home the whole wheat flour and made my own bread.

But, from the very first day that I landed on these shores, as I devoured a whole grilled red mullet for lunch, I was a convert to Mediterranean fish and shellfish. Growing up in Midwest America where I rarely ate seafood, there was something deeply lacking in my diet.

Here, with a fishing port only a few miles from where I lived, I could indulge myself with fresh shrimp. I came to love fresh anchovies fried in olive oil and fresh sardines roasted on skewers. I experimented with ugly monkfish, scaly gurnards, awesome swordfish, oily mackerel and squishy squid. (A 1972 Penguin edition of Alan Davidson’s Mediterranean Seafood was my guide.)

Zarzuela--a seafood "operetta," in all its glory.

Serve each person a piece of each fish, a few squid, shrimp, clams and mussels.

 My personal Mediterranean Diet is still slanted towards seafood. To celebrate the month, I’m cooking an old-favorite, zarzuela de pescados y mariscos, a classic Catalan seafood stew. I first ate zarzuela in Tarragona (a Mediterranean port city south of Barcelona) on a road trip along the Mediterranean coasts of Spain and France (where I also tasted my first-ever bouillabaisse in Sêtes).

Besides a variety of seafood, the recipe calls for tomatoes, almonds, hazelnuts and plenty of virgin olive oil, all important items in the healthful Mediterranean diet.

Seafood Operetta

Zarzuela de Pescados y Mariscos

Zarzuela is operetta, a genre of popular musical theater that developed in the 17th century. Why this Catalan seafood stew has the same name is a mystery to me. It’s a lavish but simply staged production if all the ingredients are prepared before starting to cook.

The dish is usually cooked in a shallow earthenware cazuela or a paella pan. A separate skillet is used to sauté all the ingredients first. They are then combined to finish cooking in the cazuela.

Use at least two and as many as four different fish in this recipe. Examples are “meaty” fish such as monkfish, conger or lobster; flaky fish such as bass, grouper, bream or rascasse, and delicate fish such as hake, sole or turbot. (I used monkfish, hake and sea bass.) The servings can be cut into fillets or steaks of about 4 ounces. Ideally, you are going to serve each person one piece of each fish plus shellfish.

You can use fish heads, bones, trimmings and crustacean shells to make fish stock (that recipe follows the recipe for zarzuela) or use store-bought stock. The stock can be prepared a day before cooking the zarzuela.

You’re going to be making a sofrito (fried onion and tomato) and a picada (paste of ground almonds and hazelnuts) to add to the fish. Both of these can be prepared in advance. Clams and mussels can be steamed open in advance as well. Strain their cooking liquid and add it to the fish stock. Discard empty half-shells.

Zarzuela is usually served with strips of bread fried in olive oil as an accompaniment. Some people wish for potatoes or pasta or rice to go with it, but, personally, I like the intensity of the seafood with nothing more than bread. 

Serves 4—or more.

Pieces of fish, ready to cook.

4 (4-ounce) servings each of  2 or 3 different fish
Salt
Flour for dredging fish
Extra virgin olive oil (about ½ cup)
½ pound cleaned squid, cut in rings
8 jumbo shrimp
8 mussels, cleaned and steamed open
½ pound small clams, scrubbed and steamed open  
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup grated tomato pulp (2 large tomatoes)
¼ cup brandy, rum or aguardiente (anisette)
1 bay leaf 
Pinch of crushed saffron
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1 ½ cups fish stock (recipe below)
¼ cup picada (recipe follows)
Salt
Chopped parsley to serve
Triangles of fried bread to serve

Shake off excess flour in a sieve.

Salt the pieces of fish and allow them to stand 30 minutes. (Do not salt fish that has been frozen.) Working with one type of fish at a time, dredge the pieces in flour, patting off excess.

Heat enough oil in a skillet to cover the surface. Fry each of the floured pieces of fish, starting with skin-side up, until lightly golden (about 1 ½ minutes per side). They do not need to cook through. Remove them as they are browned and place in a large (12-inch) cazuela or paella pan.  Add additional oil to the skillet as needed.

Place all the seafood in the cazuela in more or less a single layer.

Flour the pieces of squid and fry them until golden. Place them around the pieces of fish in the cazuela. Sauté the shrimp without flouring them and place in the cazuela. Place the mussels and clams around the fish.

Grate tomatoes to make pulp.

Wipe out the skillet and add 2 tablespoons more oil. Sauté the chopped onion, stirring frequently, until it begins to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato pulp and fry, stirring frequently, until it is thick and jam-like and slightly caramelized. Add the brandy and cook until the alcohol is cooked off. Add the bay leaf, saffron, crushed red pepper and fish stock. Cook 5 minutes. Stir in the picada. Taste for salt (if stock was well-salted, you may not need any additional salt).

Pour the sofrito-picada over the fish and shellfish in the cazuela. Either cook over a medium flame, shaking the cazuela to prevent fish from sticking on the bottom, or place in a preheated 375ºF oven until sauce is bubbling and fish is completely heated (about 20 minutes).

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with triangles of bread that have been fried crisp in olive oil.

Almond-Hazelnut Sauce
Picada

Picada is a flavoring paste that is stirred into soups, stews, rice dishes during cooking. This makes more sauce than you need for the zarzuela. Refrigerate what’s left and try it dolloped over plain grilled fish or chicken as a serving sauce.

Ingredients for picada--olive oil essential!

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 slice bread, crusts removed
 2 cloves garlic
¼ cup skinned and toasted almonds
¼ cup toasted and skinned hazelnuts
¼ cup chopped parsley
½ cup water or fish stock
Salt

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small skillet and fry the slice of bread until browned on both sides. Remove.

Place the bread, garlic, almonds, hazelnuts and parsley in a blender or mini-processor and process with 2 tablespoons oil until it makes a smooth paste. Dilute the paste with water or stock. Add a pinch of salt. 

Fish Stock
Caldo de Pescado

This version of fish stock starts out with a sofrito of fried vegetables and tomato. You need about 2 cups of the stock for the zarzuela. Freeze the remaining for use in fish soups.

This "cute" little fish is a rascasse, a Mediterranean fish essential for bouillabaisse. I'm putting this one in the stock pot along with the hake head and small crustraceans.

Makes 10 cups.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 pounds small fish, fish bones and trimmings, crustacean shells, small crabs, etc
½ cup white wine
1 tablespoon salt
1 slice lemon
Sprig of thyme
Parsley stems
12 cups water

Heat the oil in a large soup pot and sauté the onion, carrot and garlic until onions begin to brown, 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and continue frying until tomatoes begin to caramelize. Add any crustaceans and sauté.

Put in the remaining fish, bones, trimmings.Add the wine, salt, lemon, thyme, parsley and water. Bring to a boil, skim away froth. Partially cover and cook 40 minutes. Let set 10 minutes.

Carefully strain the broth, first through a colander, then through a fine sieve. Discard the solids. Refrigerate the stock, covered, until ready to use.

Fry triangles of (whole grain) bread in olive oil to accompany this fish stew. Make lots--it's delicious.

Mediterranean flavors--a seafood stew from Catalonia.

RICE "ON THE SIDE"

Last week, after filleting a whole corvina, I saved the head, bones and trimmings to make fish stock. Usually I stash stock in the freezer, ready for making one of my favorite Spanish fish soups. This time I decided to use that pot of concentrated flavor for a Spanish rice dish that’s not paella.

Flavorful rice and not much else.

Arroz abanda (in Alicante lingo, it’s arròs a banda) means rice “on the side.” It’s sort of like paella but without all the baroque trimmings. Originally it was a simple fisherman’s dish cooked on board a trawler. Some of the day’s catch was boiled in a pot, then skimmed out. Rice was added to cook in the tasty broth. The rice was served first, followed by the boiled fish.

The dish has since achieved near-cult status, especially in the provincial city of Alicante, where the rice is usually prepared in a paella pan instead of a fisherman’s kettle. It can be served in solitary splendor as a starter or as a side dish with fish cooked simply. A pungent alioli (garlic sauce) is the only accompaniment.

The success of arroz abanda depends on starting with a flavor-packed fish stock. You’ll find a basic recipe here. Use small, whole fish; trimmings from larger fish; crustacean shells; clam or mussel juices.

About Spanish rice. Spanish rice, the kind used for paella, is a round-grained, medium-short variety. Spanish rice has a white perla (pearl), where the starch is concentrated. Its great virtue is as a flavor conductor, soaking up the savory juices with which the rice cooks—olive oil sofrito, chicken, rabbit or seafood,  saffron. Spanish (often called “Valencian”) rice is similar to Italian varieties used for risotto. But the cooking method is totally different. Risotto is stirred to develop the creamy starch. Paella rice, cooked “dry,” is never stirred, as stirring would break up the starch kernel.

Bomba is one of several varieties of rice grown in Spain (it may be from the region called Calasparra). Bomba rice is especially esteemed for caldoso (soupy) and meloso, juicy, rice dishes because the kernel of starch doesn’t burst open and make the rice sticky. Bomba rice is absolutely not necessary for paella.

But, for this recipe, if possible use the bomba variety of rice because it will absorb more of that flavorful fish stock (use triple the volume of liquid to rice). If using varieties other than bomba, decrease the quantity of stock, using approximately double the volume of liquid to rice.

Ñoras are small dried peppers.

The traditional recipe calls for the pulp of a ñora, a bittersweet dried red pepper, the same pepper used to make pimentón (paprika). If not available, substitute a spoonful of sweet pimentón, stirred with a little water to make a paste. Saffron is optional; it adds that vibrant golden color.

Fry shrimp shells for flavor.

In addition to the fish stock, this recipe also calls for flavoring the cooking oil with shrimp shells and heads. If you haven’t got heads and shells, just omit this step. And, instead of a sofrito of chopped vegetables, it calls for a picada of tomatoes, ñora, garlic and parsley crushed in a mortar or blender.

Arroz Abanda
Rice on the Side

A few shrimp and pieces of squid for a tasty rice dish.

Serves 6 as a starter or side dish.

2 ñoras (or 2 teaspoons pimentón)
¼ cup boiling water
12 ounces small unpeeled shrimp (or 6 ounces peeled)
2 small tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic
Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces squid, cut in rings
Pinch of saffron threads (optional)
2 cups medium-short rice, preferably bomba variety
5 ½-6 cups fish stock, heated
Alioli (garlic mayonnaise) to serve

Remove stem and seeds from the ñoras. Place one of them in a small bowl and add boiling water. Allow to soak 30 minutes.

Peel the shrimp, reserving both the bodies and the heads and shells.

Ingredients for a picada to flavor the rice.

Make the picada. Open the soaked ñora and, with the side of a spoon, scoop the pulp from the skin. Discard the skin and add the pulp to a mortar or blender. (Add the soaking liquid to the stock pot.) Add the tomatoes, garlic, parsley and ½ teaspoon salt to the pulp of the ñora. Crush or blend to make a smooth paste.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a paella pan, cazuela or skillet. Add the reserved shrimp heads and shells. Sautée until shells turn pink. Skim out the heads and shells and discard them, reserving the oil.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Add the remaining ñora and fry it on all sides. Remove the ñora and reserve. Add the tomato-garlic paste to the pan and sautée, stirring. Add the squid rings and the saffron threads.

Stir in the rice and let it sautée a few minutes. Add the hot stock. Cook the rice on a high heat for 8 minutes. Taste and add additional salt if needed. Stir in the reserved shrimp. Return the fried ñora to the pan, placing it in the center of the rice. Lower the heat and cook until rice is cooked, 15-18 minutes longer. Let the rice set 5 minutes before serving. Serve accompanied by alioli.

Serve rice with alioli--garlic mayonnaise.

Alioli
Garlic Mayonnaise

This is not a true alioli, which is an emulsion of crushed garlic and olive oil. But this simplified version is quick and delicious.

½ cup bottled mayonnaise
1-2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt, if needed

Place the mayonnaise, garlic, oil and lemon juice in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste and add salt if necessary. Keeps, refrigerated, up to 1 week.

SURF 'N TURF, WHERE THE TURF IS CATALUÑA

Chicken cooks with shellfish in a rich sauce for Spanish surf 'n turf.

Years ago when I started collecting recipes around Spain, I came across one in Cataluña (northeastern Spain) that struck me as really exotic, “Chicken with Lobster.” Chicken cooked with shellfish seemed pretty strange, until I recalled the American steakhouse specialty, surf and turf—lobster with steak.

When I first tasted the dish, also known as mar y montaña, sea and mountain, I assumed adding chicken was a way to extend the pricey lobster. A single lobster plus chicken could feed six or more. I have since read in Coleman Andrews’ CATALAN CUISINE that its origin was exactly the opposite, the lobster was to extend the chicken: “Chicken was expensive, taking time to raise and money to feed, while every cast of the net brought up shrimp and spiny lobster,” wrote Andrews. (Langosta, by the way, is spiny lobster, which has no claws. The kind with claws is called bogavante in Spanish.

I have come across many variations of mar y montaña (or mar i muntanya in Catalan). The three in Coleman Andrews’s book are chicken and shrimp; rabbit with snails, monkfish, cuttlefish and shrimp, and rabbit with pork, sole and mussels. The most elaborate version I found, Ampurdan style, calls for jumbo shrimp (langostinos), sea crayfish (cigalas), cuttlefish, mussels, sausage, pigs’ trotters, rabbit, chicken, snails and mushrooms!

What all of these land and sea combos have in common is the addition of a picada. Picada is a paste made of ground nuts, garlic and bread that both thickens and seasons the sauce. The picada for mar y montaña usually also contains chocolate. Now, that really is exotic! Unless, of course, you’ve already savored Mexican mole, also a sauce with ground nuts and chocolate.

Cuttlefish, cleaned and ready to cut up.

Cuttlefish, like squid and octopus, is a cephalopod. It has eight short tentacles, an interior cuttlebone and ink sac. The medium-sized cuttlefish (jibia or sepia) shown in the photo is cleaned and ready to cut up. The thick flesh needs slow cooking (about an hour) to become tender. Tiny ones can be grilled or flash-fried.

Over the years, I have adapted mar y montaña to suit myself, as lobster is not readily available or affordable. (Although, the last time I shopped at HiperCor, El Corte Ingles’s supermarket, I saw lobsters, the kind with claws, imported from Canada at a reasonable price.) I usually make the dish with free-range chicken and cuttlefish (jibia or sepia). Meaty cuttlefish has such a deep-sea flavor. If cuttlefish is not available, squid or monkfish could be used instead, although they do not require such long cooking. 

Typically, a braised dish such as this is served on its own, with only crusty bread or triangles of fried bread as an accompaniment. But, because the picada-enriched sauce is so delicious, I like to serve rice as a side to soak it up. Yesterday, instead of rice, I served mar y montaña with creamy polenta. Wonderful.

Chicken cooks with cuttlefish and shrimp in a sauce of almonds and chocolate.

Mar y Montaña
Surf and Turf (Chicken with Seafood)

Serves 4 to 6.

2 tablespoons olive oil or lard
1 slice bread, crusts removed
3 cloves garlic
30 almonds, blanched and skinned
Parsley sprig
4 jumbo shrimp
2 pounds chicken in serving pieces
Salt and pepper 
1 chicken liver (optional)
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped tomatoes (3 medium)
1 pound cleaned cuttlefish, cut in bite-size pieces
2/3 cup dry Sherry or white wine
1 tablespoon dry anisette or brandy 
2/3 cup water or stock
Strip of orange zest
1 bay leaf
½  teaspoon saffron, crushed 
1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped
Pinch of cinnamon
Fried bread to serve (optional)           
Chopped parsley to garnish

Heat the oil or lard in a large cazuela or deep skillet. Fry the bread, 2 cloves of the garlic, almonds and a sprig of parsley until bread and almonds are golden. Skim out and reserve.

Sauté the jumbo shrimp in remaining oil until they are pink and just cooked through. Remove and set aside.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Brown them in the fat with the chicken liver, if using. Remove the chicken pieces and liver when browned. Add the chopped onion and remaining clove of garlic, chopped. Sauté 5 minutes until onion begins to brown. Add the tomatoes and cook a few minutes over medium-high heat. Add the cut-up cuttlefish, Sherry, anisette, water, orange zest and bay leaf. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Return the chicken pieces (but not the liver) to the cazuela. Continue cooking until both cuttlefish and chicken are tender, about 40 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, prepare the picada. In a mortar, food processor or blender, grind together the fried bread, almonds, 2 cloves of garlic and parsley, chicken liver, saffron, chocolate and cinnamon. Mix with about ½ cup of sauce from the cazuela and blend to make a smooth paste.

Stir the picada into the cazuela. Cook 15 minutes longer. Place the shrimp on top and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with strips of fried bread, if desired.

Chocolate is a secret ingredient in the sauce.