Ingredients for making Roast Mackerel Fillet, with squid sauce, syrupy rice with leeks, lemon cane aromas and essence of watercress stew.
300 gr mackerel
3 Canary cherry tomatoes
2 tender leeks
Micro baby carrots: 1 orange one, 1 purple one and 1 yellow one
2 potatoes
15 gr of squid ink
40 gr of Alboreo rice
20 gr of pumpkin
1 bunch of coriander
200 gr watercress
2 mini beetroot leaves
80 gr virgin olive oil
5 gr chile noodles
25 gr yellow sweet potato
35 gr white onion
20 gr tomato
1 garlic clove
1 red pepper
20 gr courgette
1 lemon reed (citronela)
80 ml de fumet
12 gr cornflour
7 gr powdered Agar Agar jelly
7 gr de sucro or lecithin
40 ml white wine
Squid ink in a fish net
To create the ink dish add squid ink to the fumet, and bring it to the boil for 2 minutes. Store until cool.
Once cooled, add the virgin olive oil and the cornflour, blending into a lightly textured liquid. Place a non-stick pan onto a hot heat and add in the mixture according to the desired diametre. Leave for a few minutes while the oil separates itself from the rest. Take off the heat and allow to cool.
Coriander emulsion
Blanch the coriander in boiling water for 30 seconds. Cool straight after to interrupt its cooking process, add water and agar agar jelly, and mix in with a blender until a paste texture similar to mayonnaise is obtained. Store and cool.
Cream of watercress soup
Place the watercress, sweet potato, courgette, onion, leek and pepper on the boil for 25 minutes. Take off the heat and blend it into a pulp and then sieve.
Store to one side.
Lemon reed (Aire de caña de limón)
Add 200 ml of drinking water to the lemon reed and chop up to get the maximum flavour out of it. Strain and add some sucro or lecithin. Store to aerate later.
Syrupy rice with leek
Chop up and stir-fry the leek and add the rice together with pumpkin chunks. Add white wine and water (40 ml), and salt and pepper and leave to cool.
Canary tomatoes
Poach the tomatoes in boiling water, let them cool and peel them without their flower breaking. Cut open at the top and empty all their seeds and pulp.
Cooking the micro carrots and potatoes
Poach the carrot without the flower touching the water, so as not to lose it. Peel and store. Cook the potatoes with in a little salted water (as you would with papas arrugadas potatoes) and put to one side.
Browning the Mackerel
Brown off the mackerel in a hot pan for 2 minutes on the skin side to keep its crunchiness, add salt and pepper and roast at 220º for 6 minutes.
Put to one side.
Place the squid ink at the base of the dish, make two cylinders of rice and place them on top, as shown in the photo. Add the mackerel, followed by the carrots, the potatoes, then stuff the tomatoes with the cream of watercress, adding their lid with their flower and place on the plate.
Brown the coriander emulsion, aerate the lemon reed mix and add to the dish. Finally, decorate with the chile noodles, the stem of the grill-browned leek, the mini beetroot leaf and a pansy.
The inspiration behind the flavours that abound in chef Cristóbal Valido’s chosen dish come from his childhood memories, at the home of his grandparents in the hills of Telde.
It was there that he discovered the local countryside with his father, picking coriander and tender leeks. They used coriander in their popular home made potato broth, while the leeks were always ably accompanied by a plate of fine local fried fish…
Our 21st 'dish-enhancing' secret ingredient:
Coriander
The fresh herbs and spices are an essential part of any larder, and as such are star performers in kitchens around the Canary Islands. The are an essential part of sauces, marinades, and of course, the ever popular spicy Canary Mojo sauces.
Coriander is one of Gran Canaria’s most outstanding herbs: it is the perfect ingredient in a 'potato broth', for preparing a green mojo sauce, and for adding a special dash of colour and flavour for virtually any dish you care to think of.
