Fideuejat amb mariscs (Spanish pasta)

Fideuejat amb mariscs
Maccheroncelli valenziani con frutti di mare

Per l’ultima cena dell’anno 2005 ho fatto un piatto di maccheroni alla valenziana – spero di non aver fatto troppa violenza alla vera tradizione però ho cercato di leggere bene varie ricette che ho trovate e le ho armonizzate un po’...
This post presents a somewhat personalised version of a Valencian pasta dish, fideuejat, which is made in a paëlla. We had this dish as a late supper on New Year's Eve, 2005.



Alcuni degli ingredienti.

Some ingredients.

Brodetto fatto con i gusci di gamberi, prezzemolo, sedano, cipolla, aglio, pepe, garofano, zafferano.

Broth made with shrimp shells, parsley, celery, onion, garlic, pepper, clove, saffron.

I fideus si ‘rossegiano’ in olio, fino che...

Toasting or 'gilding' the fideus until...

...non si siano ‘rossegiati’.

...they are gilt.

Dopo di aver trasferito i fideus rossegiati ad una ciotola, ho fatto un soffritto di cipolla, aglio, qualche foglia di sedano e prezzemolo, e peperoncino...

The fideus were then removed and a sauce made, starting with onion, garlic, celery leaves, parsley and hot red chile...

...e dopo qualche minuto ci ho aggiunto una cucchiaiata di pimentón spagnuolo e tre or quattro pomodori pelati.

...and then a little pimentón and finally some peeled tomatoes.

Quando la salsa era pronta, ho rimesso i fideus alla paëlla e aggiunto una buona parte del brodetto. Dopo qualche minuto, i fideus avevano assorbito tutto il brodetto ma non erano ancora cotti, e dunque ce ne ho aggiunto il resto.

Once the sauce was ready, the fideus were returned to the pan and the broth was added.

Durante questa cottura dei fideus nel brodetto, ho fatto saltare in un' altra padella 1) alcune capesante (pettini); 2) una manciata di gamberi; 3) un calamaro tagliato in pezzi. All’ultimo momento ci ho aggiunto un po’ di aglio e prezzemolo tritato e finalmente un po’ di sugo di limone.
Dopo 10-15 minuti il brodetto era assorbito e i fideus erano cotti. I frutti di mare li ho messi sui fideus.

While the fideus were cooking, I sautéed some sea fruits (scallops, shrimp, squid), as they say, in oil, adding a little garlic, parsley and lemon toward the end; these were placed onto the fideus and gently mixed in.

In certi respetti la mia preparazione di questo piatto è deviato dal metodo tradizionale che si segue in Valencia -- ma come piatto unico per la festa volevo fare qualcosa un po' più... non so, forte, festivo. E in ogni caso, sono io chi l'ha fatto ed io chi l'ha mangiato e, infatti, questo ‘fideuejat amb mariscs a la Trisastres’ era veramente delizioso.

Though this version is a bit 'tarted up' relative to the traditional fideuejat, it seemed right and proper for the occasion and mood and was, in fact, quite delicious.

Bon profit!
Antonius


Links to other recipes and cooking notes by this writer: http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=55649#55649

Fra Antonio,
Molto grazie, dziękuję bardzo, mulţumesc foarte mult, vielen dank, y Спасибо большое--yet again. Mouth-watering pictures and, by the way, I'm free for dinner tonight.

I enjoyed this latest entry in the Antonius Entertains the (Discerning) Masses. Fascinating. It called to mind a dish I enjoyed immensely at the late Pili Pili, which they called fideua. The pasta was different--short and very thin, somewhat like capelli d'angeli. And the only seafood was clams. But the sauce was to die for. I wonder, what peppers did you use? Are they the "traditional" pepper used in that dish.

I somewhere have the (a?) recipe for fideua stashed away. I cannot now recall if Pili Pili used its eponymous chili, but it would seem likely. Where is Fred Ramos when you need him?

Again, thanks for sharing.

Antonius, grazie per le Sue buone fotografie! Secondo me, le paste sembrano i vermicelli, un po'. Ma, seriosamente, a me, piacciono molto i frutti di mare e le paste. Grazie per l'inspirazione e scusi il mio italiano senza vocabolario o altri libri di aiutarmi.
--Joy

A-

I find it a little comforting, yet perturbing that someone cooks so much of the same things as I do, but there is a certain basic Mediterranean home-cooking backdrop that I guess is not so surprising. The noodles look great.

I was interested to see recently that this Catalan/Valencian dish fideuá/fideuejat, is supposedly only decades old, going back to the '50s or '60s.

I had always assumed that it was much older and owed its origin to the healthy (and sometimes not so) exchange along the coast from Malaga to Messina. I also assumed that the seemingly old Mexican dish, sopa seca, owed its origins to Spain. Now I wonder whether it evolved independently.

Where to get a good bowl of sopa seca around here...

Gypsy Boy wrote:It called to mind a dish I enjoyed immensely at the late Pili Pili, which they called fideua.
<snip>
I somewhere have the (a?) recipe for fideua stashed away. I cannot now recall if Pili Pili used its eponymous chili, but it would seem likely.

If it uses pili pili or piri piri,it suggests (to me) a Portuguese dish/variation/influence.

Is this type of dish common in Portugal too? Also are there many (other) dishes in which pasta is thus toasted or gilt (Valencian or otherwise)?

Antonius - mouth-watering, inspiring and thought provoking as ever. Thanks!

By the way, Sazerac, you might be interested to know that piri piri and pili pili are related to the Kiswahili pili pili (hoho) which means (really) hot chile.

Because of Portugal's African feitorias, then colonies, in Africa, piri piri is associated with things Portuguese. But the term is also used in North African cooking, and thus, the Cote d'Azur. The short-lived restaurant on Kinzie, Pili Pili was supposed to evoke Marseilles and Niece.

Also, that's a hell of a good drink you've taken for a handle. I might go by negroni myself.

Gypsy Boy,

Graag gedaan!... The dish you recall from Pili Pili sounds to me like something that typically isn't called fideuá, though given that my dish shown here deviates a certain amount from what one might call the 'classic' fideuá or fideuejat, I can hardly say that their use of the name for a dish with clams was outrageous and worthy of punishment. In any event, noodles, often espaguetis or the nested, long and non-perforated pasta type also called 'fideus' in Castilian (i.e. non-Catalan-speaking) circles, are commonly made with clams throughout Spain, including in the Levant.* Recipes for the noodles-and-clams dish turn up it most Spanish cookbooks, reflecting the prominent position the dish has in the minds of many as one of Spain's classic and especially tasty pasta preparations.

The peppers I used (shown in the ingredients picture above) were a couple of home-grown and dried serranos from the garden; I'd say they were hot but not maximally hot within the range of serranos; the final dish had a little, even piquancy to it. Hot chiles are not part of the traditional, minimalist dish that Catalans and Valencians have in mind with the name fideuá or fideuejat, but as with all such things, variations abound and give rise to problems of terminology. The core idea is: toasted or, as I say here, 'gilded' noodles cooked in fish broth in a paëlla. The basic recipe -- perhaps for some purists the only one that should bear the name -- is just that, noodles cooked in fish broth, served perhaps with allioli. But then I have at least a couple of cookbooks written by very knowledgeable people with recipes that are rather more complex and of similar nature to mine (albeit with various differences of detail, including my addition of the hot chiles).

Antonius

* The dish can, of course, be made with Catalan fideus, as suggested by Andrews in the recipe in his book on Catalan cuisine.

Joy wrote:Antonius, grazie per le Sue buone fotografie! Secondo me, le paste sembrano i vermicelli, un po'. Ma, seriosamente, a me, piacciono molto i frutti di mare e le paste. Grazie per l'inspirazione e scusi il mio italiano senza vocabolario o altri libri di aiutarmi.
--Joy

Gioia,

Grazie assai! Sei troppo gentile.

Sono molto lieto sapere che c'è un' altra qua che parla italiano. E grazie a te per le tue fotografie che hai 'postate' questa settimana sul foro.

Come dici, i fideus sembrano veramente vermi e forse è per questa ragione che non si usano tanto in Italia questi (però esiste una forma in Italia precisamente così; purtroppo non mi ricordo il nome adesso -- ma in ogne caso, questi fideus sono abbastanza simili ai maccheroncelli, ma quelli naturalmente senza la curvatura).

Just let me insert a few words in English, lest non-Italophones grow impatient with us. We're just passing greetings and pleasantries...

Saluti,
Antonius

Sazerac:
I'm not following the "if they used pili pili, it must be Portuguese" logic. The pili pili pepper, I am virtually certain, was advertised as being of North African, specifically Moroccan, origin (we inquired and had a long chat once upon a time).


JeffB:
I don't know that the food was especially Provencal; I thought it was more pan-Mediterranean with Spanish, North African, and other influences, albeit with a number of Provencal dishes. But my memory isn't what it once was.

My memory was incorrect as to the seafood used in their fideua. Not only clams, but shrimp and monkfish (pays to take notes; pays to consult your notes).

Mea culpa.

JeffB wrote:Because of Portugal's African feitorias, then colonies, in Africa, piri piri is associated with things Portuguese. But the term is also used in North African cooking, and thus, the Cote d'Azur. The short-lived restaurant on Kinzie, Pili Pili was supposed to evoke Marseilles and Niece.

Gypsy Boy wrote:Sazerac:
I'm not following the "if they used pili pili, it must be Portuguese" logic. The pili pili pepper, I am virtually certain, was advertised as being of North African, specifically Moroccan, origin (we inquired and had a long chat once upon a time).

Gypsy Boy, I don't know if I meant "must be Portuguese", just that fiduea (with pili pili) suggested - as opposed to indicated - to me a Portuguese dish. Then again, I may have been mixing up a bunch of things.
Anyhow, I wondered if it was Portuguese because of the combination of the use of pasta and the piri piri pepper. (That and I may have been hoping to get some info on Portuguese restaurants or at least places serving Portuguese dishes – hmm, why don't I just ask?)

The pili pili pepper is 'African' but through the Portuguese (such as Christovão Colom ) – although I didn't realize it was associated with North Africa and thus the Cote d'Azur. I know the Portuguese spread the peppers through their colonies in Angola and Mozambique and then India etc.


JeffB, I raise my glass to you (and your negroni). I've also had some good eats thanks to you – you'll see

sazerac wrote:Is this type of dish common in Portugal too? Also are there many (other) dishes in which pasta is thus toasted or gilt (Valencian or otherwise)?

Antonius - mouth-watering, inspiring and thought provoking as ever. Thanks!

S,

Toasting pasta before the introduction of liquid is a common practice not just in Valencian cooking but in Spanish cooking generally -- though it is not used in all dishes -- and thus also in much or most of Latin America, where Spanish culinary traditions survive. Certainly, Mexican cuisne uses this method a lot in the preparation of sopas secas -- 'dry soups' -- but also in wetter preparations with noodles (fideos, etc.). In the Arab world it's also employed in certain dishes. At the moment, the only Persian rishta recipes I can think of involve boiling without toasting but I would guess they toast noodles in some cases. In Italian cookery there are some recipes that call for it but all in all it's a marginal method (which contrasts sharply with the Italian approach to rice -- and not just in the risotti of the north but also in many rice dishes in the south -- where toasting is the normal and most widespread method). The same applies by and large for Greek cooking.

A

sazerac wrote:Also are there many (other) dishes in which pasta is thus toasted or gilt (Valencian or otherwise)?

It's certainly a common step in pilafs, where crushed fine noodles are first toasted, then mixed with rice. I usually make an Armenian version, but I think that technique's common throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. (Also, while it's not exactly pasta, in a similar preparation, it's customary to toast kasha before cooking, sometimes coating with egg.)


Prinzov pilav
Armenian-style pilaf

1/8 cup pinenuts or sliced almonds (optional)
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup broken thin spaghetti, vermicelli or fine egg noodles (1-inch pieces)
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 cup long-grain or basmati rice
3 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a dry skillet over medium-high heat and toast the nuts, stirring frequently until lightly browned. Watch carefully to avoid burning. Remove the nuts and set aside.

Melt the butter and stir in the noodles, sauteing until well browned. Partway through, add the garlic.

Add the rice; stir until well coated. Add the broth, bring to a boil. Stir, cover and reduce the heat to low; cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the broth is absorbed and rice is soft. Let stand for about 20 minutes before serving.

Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with the nuts. 4 servings.



Basic kasha

2 cups chicken or beef broth
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup medium-grain kasha (buckwheat groats)
1 egg, beaten
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the broth and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, stir the kasha and egg together in a small bowl. Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat and add the kasha-egg mixture. Stir and chop the kasha with a wooden spoon for about 4 minutes, or until the egg has cooked and the kernels are hot and mostly separated.

Add the simmering broth. Stir, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the kernels are tender and the liquid is absorbed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Fluff with a fork and serve. 4 to 6 servings.

Fideus amb Carbassó...

Back in the fall, when the zucchini plants in the garden were yielding the last of the season’s fruits, I used some as part of the condiment of a dish of fideus.

Step 2


Step 3


Step 5


The finished dish, as a first course...


... i Mandonguilles de Carn de Xai

The second course.


Antonius

Links to other recipes and cooking notes by this writer: http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=55649#55649