MARMITAKO

This is one of the most typical of Basque dishes. If you don’t have bonito, you can use tuna, which is very similar, or mackerel – an oily fish is basically what you’re looking for.

A marmita is a big pot. It’s what the fishermen use to cook with when they’re out at sea and need something hot to keep them going – everything gets put in the one pot with the freshly caught fish.

FOR 6

175ml extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 onion, finely diced

1 large red pepper, finely diced

200g Padrón peppers, finely diced

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

2 dried choricero peppers, soaked in water overnight and flesh scooped out

1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

3 or 4 fresh ripe plum tomatoes, grated

200ml Txakoli (sparkling Basque wine), or sherry, or a crisp white wine

2–3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into rough chunks

2 litres fish stock

2kg bonito (or 1kg fresh tuna)

1 bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Put 100ml of olive oil into a large pan on a medium-low heat. Add the garlic for 30 seconds, then add the onions and peppers and a pinch of salt and cook gently for 12–15 minutes.

Add the bay leaf, choriceros, chilli and grated tomatoes, and cook until paste-like. Pour in the wine and cook until the alcohol has evaporated. Add the potatoes and stir together with the paste so they’re coated. Add the fish stock – the potatoes should be more or less covered. Cook for 15–20 minutes on a medium-low heat, until the potatoes are really nice and soft but not broken.

When the potatoes are cooked, cut the bonito into chunks the size of a 50p piece and season with a little salt and pepper. Put the remaining 75ml of olive oil into another pan on a medium-high heat and sear the bonito very quickly – you don’t want to cook it through, just seal it so that it doesn’t break up.

Add the bonito to the stew, take off the heat and mix everything together. Put the lid on the pan and leave for 5 minutes. Sprinkle over the chopped parsley and serve with bread, to scoop up the juices.