Fresh fish and seafood - Region of Valencia
Exemplifying the kind of wisdom to be found in simplicity, fish and shellfish in the Land of Valencia are usually prepared in uncomplicated yet mouth-watering ways: baked in the oven, hot from the grill, done over charcoal, lightly fried, or cooked in succulent yet simple stews. Despite the increasingly scarcity of certain species, the traditionally hard-working fishing ports along the Mediterranean still bring in fresh catches almost daily, much like they did in the days of the famous beach and fishing paintings by Joaquín Sorolla. This can be seen in a visit to Valencia’s modernist Central Market.
Some of the typical fish from which delicious fisherman's dishes are made include tunny, sardine, hake, red mullet, sole, anglerfish, octopus, swordfish, grey mullet, narrowmouthed catshark, common pandora, cuttlefish, redfish, mackerels, blue-mouth rock fish, wreck-fish, rays, gilthead, forkbeards and milt.
The so-called sucs and suquets de peix are simply fish stews often made in paella pans using a variety of fish in sauce created by using crushed almonds and garlic. Valencian fish soups are made from morralla, a medley of small fish and shellfish; casseroles or cassolas are made using lightly fried mixtures of tomato, onions and finely chopped garlic over which slices of fish are placed; fish la sel - a recipe from the ancient Phoenicians Ð are baked in the oven without any other seasoning than their own juices boxed in by the effect of the salt covering.
