http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/dining/making-romescada-the-catalan-fish-stew.html 2014-09-15 23:37:35 Making Romescada, the Catalan Fish Stew This fish stew has hearty Mediterranean heft. === Romesco, the delicious rust-colored sauce from the Catalan region of Spain, is justly popular, served alongside grilled fish or as dip for vegetables. It is typically made with fresh and dried red peppers, roasted almonds and hazelnuts, a fair amount of garlic, and day-old bread fried in olive oil. These ingredients are pounded together (or, these days, whirled to a rough consistency in a machine), and olive oil is added until the mixture resembles a rough reddish mayonnaise. Sometimes, though, instead of being used for sauce, the same ingredients can become the base for a fish stew known as romesco de peix, or simply romescada. I first tasted romescada in Barcelona at the diminutive and truly wonderful Bar Pinotxo, a restaurant (well, a long counter with stools) inside the city’s enormous old market, La Boquería. Since the fishmongers are literally just steps away, every fish dish we tasted there was ultra-fresh. This earthy little stew stood out, reminiscent of bouillabaisse but with more chutzpah. (Generally, Catalan cuisine leans more French Mediterranean than the food of other Spanish regions; romesco is kind of like a gutsy version of rouille, the Provençal accompaniment to fish soup.) But you don’t have to get on a plane to Spain for romescada if there’s a good fish market near you. Stay home and make it yourself. Often this stew contains monkfish and other firm-fleshed white fish, like sea bass, or even a bit of salt cod. And nearly any type of shellfish, bivalve or cephalopod can be incorporated: shrimp, mussels, squid. I chose to use lobster, and a few clams, too — not to be fancy, but because with the lobster glut still in full swing, prices are down. A couple of big ones didn’t set me back much, and since I cooked and cracked them myself, I had plenty of lobster shells to make an intense broth. For real depth of flavor, it is important to make the stew slowly, rather than just stirring in a romesco sauce at the end, as it is sometimes done. Though the recipe may seem complex, it really isn’t, and nearly every part of it can be prepared ahead. A simmering potful of romescada is also a nice way to ease back into the kitchen after a summer spent avoiding the stove.