From Fish to Dish: Andalusian fish at aqua nueva

Posted on June 17, 2016

Andalusian Style Deep Fried Fish_LR

At aqua nueva head chef Yahir Gonzalez thinks it is important to use the whole fish and not waste anything. Therefore, he gets whole fish delivered to the restaurant and his chefs fillet them and use each part for various dishes, from stocks, to sauce to whole fillets on his small plates menu.

Every week Head Chef Yahir has a delivery of whole cod and hake, we took this opportunity to watch him and his chef Dani prepare the fish for the dishes that day. In particular, we documented the creation of the classic Pescadito frito - Andalusian style deep-fried fish.

First step is filleting the fish. This process looks complicated, but the efficiency and knowledge of Dani meant it all happened rather fast! Next, the fillets are cut into small bite sized portions.

Fillet Stage 1

Fillet Stage 2

As this was happening, Yahir was preparing the marinade. This dish is a classic Southern Spanish one, the marinade uses spices particularly popular in Andalusia. The cuisine in this part of Spain has been influenced by Morocco, and Arabic cooking due to the various people who have conquered and lived in the area, dating back over 1,000 years ago. This marinade reflects this history with fennel seeds, coriander, ground cloves, ground cumin, parsley, smoked paprika (pimenton de la vera), sherry vinegar, garlic and water.

Spice max n marinate

The cod is marinated for a day – the light acidity in this marinade gently breaks down the fish, allowing for the dry flavours to penetrate into the cod. With this recipe you can use other fish, most commonly white fish is used. In Spain this marinade is also used with little sardines that are then fried.

Once the pieces of cod have marinated for 24 hours they are coated in bread crumbed and deep fried.

crumb n fried

The final step is getting the cod fritters on to the plate! They are served with pickled radish, aioli and crushed jalapenos.