October 3rd, 2013
After we’d visited the art fair and run up and down Paral·lel six or seven times to work off the amazing lunch at La Bodegueta, we though it best to visit the Boqueria and buy something for supper.
The idea was to buy something light, like a big fish, but while I was buying a little mi cuit foie gras (something to snack on) at Aninova, Oli fell in love with a Magret de Canard. Who was I to stand in the way of true love?
While buying a celeriac to go with the duck, we thought we’d better buy a couple of chirimoyas (custard apples) for pudding.
We went round the Boqueria fish circle a few times while the Catalan fish ladies flirted with us, trying to entice us into buying their wares. It was the Escórpora (scorpion fish) that really stood out and caught my eye – they looked like giant goldfish. Escórpora or Rascasse, as it’s known in French, is a very popular ingredient in Bouillabaisse, which of course I’ve eaten many times, however, I’ve never had Escórpora cooked on is own.
Scorpion Fish it was then! I watched attentively, as the gloved Fish Lady carefully cleaned two fish and snipped off their poisonous spines. If you catch or handle these you must wear gloves, their sting can be quite painful and induce headaches and vomiting. They can be cooked without removing the spines, since cooking neutralises the toxin.
Several hours and a bottle of rosado later, the Escórpora went into the oven, with a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Fifteen to twenty minutes later, we ate the fish on their own. The taste was wonderful, like fresh cod but buttery, much nicer and more tasty than cod in fact.
Forgive the indulgence, but I had to post the eye, it looks so beautiful!
Next came the Magret de Canard – this is the breast of a duck that has been fattened up to produce foie gras. It has much more of a dark meat flavour (perhaps a little beef like) than regular duck and contains more fat.
Cook on a hot griddle or frying pan for about 10 minutes, skin side down, for two thirds of the time and then sear the underside. Do reserve the fat which will come out of the duck for cooking potatoes or similar. Let the meat rest for about 10 minutes before serving – it should be served pink.
We enjoyed ours on a bed of celeriac mash with a little slice of foie gras on top.
To finish or finish us off, we had chirimoya for pudding. They are called custard apples in English because the flesh resembles custard. The big pips remind me of raisins in an apple pie with custard. As you can see it’s quite creamy and the taste is sweet, a bit like banana, pineapple and strawberry combined.
That duck looks so amazing!
Thanks Tessa, it was 😉
What a wonderful haul of treats, the escorpa looks so good, and that duck looks off the scale perfection.
Cheers
Marcus
Thanks Marcus – the escórpora was delicious and the duck of course 😉
I still have never visited la Boqueria in Barcelona. We keep thinking of taking the overnight sleeper train from Poitiers to Barcelona…..but, thinking and doing have not, as yet, come together.
Hi Roger, I think you’d love Barcelona, it’s very photogenic and the food is amazing 😉
Your magret, the fish, the eye, the shopping all look fantastic.
Thanks Rosemary, it was a lovely feast 😉
heavenly, I have no idea what most of these dishes are, but I am entranced. The eye was interesting but slightly unnerving. However the food! Oh you must have been groaning and popping buttons! c
Thanks Cecilia – groaning and popping, yet very content 😉
Total indulgence. First showing us the fish eye. Second, a slice of foie gras on the duck. Lovely.
Thanks Conor – I bought the foie gras to go on toast, but it seemed right to add a little bit to the Magret 😉
Inspired.
Now that’s how you take advantage of local fare, MD. This was another fantastic meal.
Thanks John – I always try to find something I haven’t eaten before and it’s hard to say no to Magret and foie gras 😉
Oh my! That fish and duck look great. Conor seems to have inspired a duck revolution and I’m about to join the bandwagon. 4 days till my basque cooking class. Are you in Spain permanently, MD?
Thanks Amanda. I don’t know about Conor, but I eat duck very regularly, my butcher often gives me good deals. There are lots of duck recipes on the blog for roast duck, duck confit, smoked duck, duck liver, etc. I’ve even got half a whole duck confit in the fridge 😉
I’m so jealous! Here we only seem to have whole ducks, which are great for roasting, but it becomes an ordeal! Well now I know where to go for my pato recipes.
I could eat roast duck every week and the bones make such good stock 😉
I find it hard to stop at just a little slice of foie gras! Mind you, after a day like you had of eating, perhaps just a little slice would have been perfect 😉 Big Man is really upset he’s missing the chirimoyas again this year 😦
Ha ha – somehow the mice managed to prise the remaining foie gras from the fridge during the night and they got the biscuits from the top cupboard too – I had to go out and buy more the next day!
Poor Big Man – I did think of him when we were eating the huge lunch at La Bodegueta 🙂
Damn those mice – they tend to appear in my house when there is a lot of gorgeous cheese in the fridge. Seems they can’t sleep until they’ve had just one more taste of it!
They never sleep until it’s all gone!
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