Santurtzi is famous for sardines. The women who used to sell them, the sardineras, sang a song, ‘From Santurtzi to Bilbao’ (Desde Santurce a Bilbao), which describes how the women would walk by the riverside to Bilbao, with their baskets of sardines on their heads. It’s very well known in Spain and people like to sing it at parties when they’re having a good time!

Whether it’s the traditional sardines or octopus, cooking fish doesn’t have to be complicated. In Santurtzi, there is a restaurant by the port called Mandanga: it’s known for its fresh fish, which is cooked on the charcoal grills outside, looking out to sea. It’s one of my favourite places. It makes the whole town smell of grilled fish and I love it – to me, it’s the smell of summer and holidays and home. Mandanga has been run by the same family for three generations, and they really know what they’re doing. Imanol Bóveda, the grandson of the original owner, who runs the restaurant now, is the best at what he does: the fish is grilled, then finished with olive oil, garlic and that’s it. Done. Sardines, turbot, bream and octopus are always on the menu, but one of the reasons Mandanga is so popular is that it’s open to everyone: you can go there and eat sardines and mackerel and spend €20, or you can have langoustines and butterflied bream and spend €300. Whatever you choose, it will be amazing.

In the same way, the recipes in this chapter should have something for everyone, ranging from the cheap (cockles with parsley, chilli and sherry, here) to the more extravagant (baked scallops with garlic and parsley breadcrumbs, here), and from the speedy (squid, puntarelle, tomatoes, anchovies and capers, here) to the leisurely (the celebratory feast that is the seafood stew, here).