Restaurante Aponiente is situated in the region of Cádiz in a small habour town called El Puerto de Santa Maria. It’s the perfect place for Chef Ángel León as he has a huge passion for the sea and loves to create all kinds of fish and seafood dishes. No wonder he’s often called ‘the Chef of the Sea’. At Aponiente you can expect a contemporary interpretation of the marine cuisine. Today you can start cooking some delicacies of this innovative top chef at home, as he shares his recipe for cuttlefish & chips.

 

Recipe: Cuttlefish & Chips

Ingredients & preparation: Fish fumet

1. Ingredients (for 5 l):

• 50 g garlic
• 50 g onion
• 40 g white celery
• 10 g extra virgin olive oil
• 50 g Barbazul white wine
• 2.5 kg rough fish (fishbones)
• 5.5 l water

2. Preparation:

• Rinse the rough fish in cold water.
• Poach the vegetables using a dash of extra virgin olive oil. Let it poach, without browning it, for 20 minutes.
• Once the vegetables are cooked, add the wine and let reduce for 3 minutes.
• Take the rough fish out of the water and add it to the rest.
• At last add water and let it simmer without bringing it to boil.
• Set aside and strain.

Ingredients & preparation: Coñeta (shore crab) stock

1. Ingredients (for 2.5 l):

• 150 g white celery
• 30 g leek
• 25 g onion
• 17.5 g garlic
• 100 g oloroso wine
• 1.25 kg coñeta (shore crab)
• 3 l fish fumet
• 1 bunch of parsley

2. Preparation:

• Cut the vegetables in julienne strips and let it brown with a dash of olive oil over a low heat.
• Once browned, add the oloroso wine and reduce it until drained.
• Once the wine is reduced, add the coñeta and let stir.
• Add the cold fish fumet and cook the coñetas over a low heat without bringing it to boil.
• Finally, drain the coñetas and crush them. Infuse it on the stock along with the parsley.
• After the infusion, strain and set aside.

Ingredients & preparation: Stuffed ravioli

1. Ingredients (for 750 g):

• 250 g onion
• 37.5 g green pepper
• 50 g squid
• 50 g tomato sauce
• Fino Rama wine
• 500 g coñeta stock
• 2 leaves of gelatine

2. Preparation:

• Chop the pepper and the onion brunoise and poach.
• Add the wine and reduce to drain.
• Add the tomato sauce and caramelize it all.
• Cook the squid.
• Dip the coñeta stock and reduce to give the required texture.
• Crush it all. Broth through a sieve and add 1 sheets of gelatine/liter.
• Place it into small semi-sphere moulds.
• Freeze and set aside.

Ingredients & preparation: Cuttlefish ravioli

1. Ingredients (for 1 portion):

• 10 g cleaned cuttlefish
• 30 g stuffed ravioli

2. Preparation:

• Clean the 3 cuttlefishes entirely (head, inner parts, mantle, …).
• With the body, square it and place it on top of one another, building up a slab. It’s important that they are correctly placed to bind them well when frozen.
• Once the slab is build, freeze.
• Cut finely the frozen squid in sashimi style.
• Place it on a waxed paper and paint the squid slides with oil.
• Place on each squid slide a frozen stuffed tablet. Wrap with squid without protruding stuff and keep it frozen until serving.

Ingredients & preparation: Chips stew with cuttlefish

1. Ingredients ( for 250 g)

• 75 g onion
• 35 g red pepper
• 35 g green pepper
• 20 g garlic
• 7.5 g tomato sauce
• 70 g cuttlefish
• 35 g extra virgin oil
• 25 g Fino coquiniero wine
• 25 g Oloroso wine
• 50 g potatoes
• 1 l coñeta stock
• 2.5 g saffron
• 1.5 g salt

2. Preparation:

• Poach the garlic with olive oil in a pot until it develops its aroma.
• Add the onion and the peppers.
• After a little while add the tomato sauce.
• Let it cook and stick the squid.
• Add the oloroso wine and let it reduce to drain.
• Add the fino wine and let it also reduce to drain.
• At last, add the coñeta stock and the crushed potatoes.

Ingredients & preparation: Candied potato roller

1. Ingredients (for 1 portion (2g)):

• 1 g Fábula potato
• 25 g mild olive oil

2. Preparation:

• Wash the potatoes.
• Place it on a nonstop mandolin slicer so that it cuts the potato on a single slide.
• Roll the slide and build up a cylinder of 8 cm length. Secure with a toothpick.
• Candy up to 60 °C with the olive oil for 8 – 15 minutes.
• Afterwards, drain with paper and set aside on a separate waxed paper.
• To portion it, cut each cylinder on 3 or 4 slides of 2 cm.

Portioning & presentation: Cuttlefish & chips

• 1 portion cuttlefish ravioli
• 50 g potato stew with cuttlefish
• 1 portion cylinder of candied potato
• 1 g mint

The full reportage about restaurant Aponiente and the Chef of the Sea, Ángel León can be read here.