Smoked Fish Platter with Salmorejo Sauce

, from Issue #20. August, 2015
Photography by Aaron McLean.
Smoked Fish Platter with Salmorejo Sauce

Salmorejo is more often served as a soup, but while in Spain we were served several sauce versions as well, which inspired this dish.

INGREDIENTS

Selection of smoked fish, we used tuna, mackerel and tarakihi

Salmorejo
250 grams very ripe vine tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red capsicum, roasted, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 cup fresh soft sourdough bread crumbs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

To finish
1 hard boiled egg, peeled
fresh chives for garnish

METHOD

Salmorejo: Purée the tomatoes and garlic in a food processor until smooth. Strain through a sieve placed over a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much flesh and juice as possible. Discard the skin and seeds.

Stir in the capsicum, paprika, bread crumbs, olive oil and salt. Leave 1 hour for the flavours to develop.

Place in a blender or food processor and process until very smooth and thick. A blender will give a smoother sauce than a food processor. Tip into a bowl and stir in the sherry vinegar. Season. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To serve: Slice the smoked fish and arrange on a platter. Spoon a little salmorejo over the fish. Separate the egg yolk and the egg white. Finely chop the egg white and scatter over the sauce. Using the fine zesting part of a grater or a Microplane, grate the egg yolk over the top and snip over a few chives.

Serve the remaining sauce in a separate bowl. Makes 1½ cups of salmorejo