A fishermen’s stew, simple but packed with flavour, marmitako is one of the great dishes of Basque popular cuisine. At Sagardi, this time of year, we like to serve this dish as a sincere tribute to the arrantzales, or Basque fishermen. Simplicity, tradition and seasonal produce, the culinary roots of Grupo SAGARDI in their purest state.

Ingredients for 4 people:

  • 550 g tuna
  • 800 g Kennebec potatoes, peeled
  • 320 g fresh onion, chopped
  • 140 g green pepper, chopped
  • 140 g red pepper, chopped
  • 5 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • 2 l tuna “fumet”
  • 120 g tomato sauce
  • 2 slices dried cayenne pepper
  • Olive oil
  • Table salt and sel gris

 

Instructions:

First, make the tuna “fumet” from the bones of the tuna, one onion, one leek and enough water to cover everything. Heat until it begins to boil then turn down and keep under a boil so the fumet doesn’t get cloudy. Cook for 5 minutes and remove from the heat, as fish stock doesn’t need to boil for very long.

After the tuna fumet is ready, set it aside and prepare the other ingredients. Cut the peppers and onion into small cubes, the size of a garbanzo, and peel and finely slice the garlic.

Peel the Kennebec potatoes and cut them into 3×3 cm cubes, not too big. Then put them in cold water and set aside for later.

Cut the tuna into cubes, the same size as the potato or even 2×2 cm, and set aside.

 

In a pot, add a good glug of oil, the garlic, onion and peppers and sauté a bit. Add a bit of sel gris to sweat the vegetables so they will hold their colour.

Then add the potatoes and sauté for 3 minutes before adding the tomato sauce. Cook a bit longer so that the ingredients come together and then add the cayenne pepper. Then add the tuna fumet, warmed beforehand so you don’t waste time bringing the whole pot back up to temperature, like you would with a rice dish. Let simmer over lower heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked but not mushy. Remove from the heat and add the cubes of tuna, which should still be raw inside.

Let the stew sit with the tuna for 3 or 4 minutes. Don’t leave it longer as the tuna will dry out.

Serve the marmitako with Ibarra pickled peppers or, in summer, with fried fresh peppers. On egin!

 

Iñaki and Mikel Lz de Viñaspre