Category Archives: Sauces

Cuttlefish, tomato and “pebrella”

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Fresh cuttlefish pre-cleaning

One of Oscar’s favourite mixes for stuffing into a brunch roll or ooping onto great crusty lumps of bread is this cuttlefish, tomato and pebrella mix.  This last is a herb found locally. Its grown-up name is Thymus Piperella, and if you search online, you might find a supplier – it has a really distinctive flavour, and although oregano could be used as an alternative, it hasn’t got the same special kick.
For the fishy part, I dragged Iaia along to the Valencia markets yesterday to help me choose the best critters and then she walked me through the recipe step by step. It’s best to buy fresh (oh-so-ugly) cuttlefish and get your friendly fishmonger to do all the cleaning for you. You will probably still have to cut off the tough wings and pull out a beak or two, but the worst part will have been dealt with by abler hands (than mine, at least). Oh, and stand back when you put the cuttlefish into the pan – it spits!

What you need:ingredients
3 medium-sized cuttlefish
a healthy kilo of pear tomatoes
2 onions
olive oil
black pepper
pebrella (thymus piperella)
dried chillies

What you do:
Chop the onions and cuttlefish into smallish pieces. Grate the tomato and put some oil in a deep pan to heat.  The cuttlefish is the first to go in as it takes quite a while to cook.  It spits horribly when it hits the oil, so be really careful!  Let it sizzle gently for about 15 minutes before adding the onion to fry and soften for another 10 minutes or so. processPour in the tomato, add some salt, the herbs and the chillies (Iaia uses a tea strainer to be able to fish them out before it gets too hot) and let everything bubble away quietly for about an hour, or until you see the tomato losing most of its wateriness and becoming thick – like a really great pasta sauce. Remember to test for flavour and remove the chillies when you notice a bit of heat.

Take off the heat and allow it to cool completely before serving. We like to leave it overnight and put spoonfuls into a crusty roll for brunch.

finishedServe with: Cold white wine and lots of bread.

Allioli (garlic mayonnaise)

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Traditionally served with Arròs a Banda, this garlic mayonnaise is also amazing with barbecued lamb cutlets. However, my favourite way of eating it is on toasted baguette slices with a spoonful of grated tomato – a fab starter for any meal.

What you need:IMG_1093
1 egg
5-6 cloves of garlic
Sunflower seed oil
A pinch of salt
A stick blender (or, if you are a purist, a mortar and pestle, in which case I wish you good luck and strong arm muscles).

What you do:
Put the egg, salt and garlic into a deep, narrow container (stick blenders usually come with one) and pour in about half a glass of oil. Start blending. Once you see it thickening and turning white, add more oil in a tiny stream, while you continue to blend. allioli

This can be done by one person, though it might be easier with two.  Keep going until you have enough!