Fish in escabeche

1 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
-\" {Escabeche is} A spicy cold marinade intended for preserving cooked foods and originating in Spain. It is used chiefly for small cooked fish (sardines, mackerel, smelt, whiting, red mullet, etc.). The fish are headed (hence the
2¼ pounds (fresh) sardines ground black pepper 8 cloves garlic 1 cup name, from CABEZA, 'head'), then fried or lightly browned; they are then marinated for 24 hours in a cooked and spiced marinade. The fish then keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Directions

"Cut some small fish and remove the heads; clean, wash, and wipe the fish. Dip in flour and fry in olive oil until golden. Drain and arrange in an earthenware dish. Peel an onion and a carrot and slice thinly. Heat the oil used for cooking the fish until it begins to smoke, then fry the onion and carrot and 5 - 6 unpeeled cloves of garlic for a few moments. Remove from the heat and add (⅔ cup) vinegar and ⅔ cup water. Add a bouquet garni containing plenty of thyme and season with salt, pepper, a dash of cayenne, and a few coriander seeds. Cook for about 15 minutes then pour the boiling marinade over the fish and leave to marinate for at least 24 hours.

Serve as an hors d'oeuvre."

2. From Jane Grigson's FISH COOKERY: "Any fish can be used - sole, mackerel, whole fish, filleted fish, chunks of fish, even frozen haddock fillet. For this particular recipe, which is a preserve for entertainment rather than serious storage, I should choose the finest, freshest white fish you can afford. Ingredients: 1½ lb fish 1 small pepper, seeded and diced salt, pepper, olive oil half an onion, sliced Marinade: dry Vermouth 6 oz each lemon juice, Garnish: orange juice, olive oil 1 avocado pear, peeled and sliced 1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced half an onion, sliced 1 large orange, sliced Directions: "Season the fish.

Leave for half an hour, then cook in olive oil until golden brown on both sides. Do not overcook. Put into a dish. "Heat all marinade ingredients, except bitters or Vermouth, and let them boil together for a couple of moments. Pour them over the fish. Add Vermouth to taste, or bitters, and a little salt, though this will most likely not be necessary. Cover when cold, and leave in the refrigerator overnight. Add extra slices of avocado pear and onion just before serving. "Apart from the juices, which take the place of vinegar, and the olive oil, the quantities of the other flavoring ingredients are variable. The important thing is that the fish should be covered; and that you should find the balance of flavors agreeable to your taste. A beautiful dish - particularly if you use a pink Spanish onion, to contrast with the orange, deep green and soft pistachio green of the other ingredients. The juice will become slightly jellied. A most refreshing dish." 3. From Ana Maria Calera's COCINA CATALANA:

vinegar 1 bay leaf 2 tbs sweet paprika thyme 1 cup olive oil oregano 1 cup flour salt

Clean the sardines well and salt them, coat with flour and fry in the hot oil. Remove the fish from the pan and, in the same oil, place the thyme, oregano, bay leaf and garlic cloves. When this has fried for some 15 minutes, remove from the fire, add salt, a little black pepper, the paprika, and an amount of vinegar equal to half the amount of oil remaining in the pan. Replace the pan over the fire and let the mixture boil about 5 minutes; remove from the heat and let cool. Place the sardines in a deep earthenware dish and pour the cold marinade over them. The marinade must cover the fish completely.

Prepared in this way and kept in a cool place, the fish will keep for a number of days.

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