Recipe: Veracruz-style fish (pescado a la veracruzana)

The vast variety of fish available in Mexico makes this recipe a very popular and delicious dish.

It is quite Mediterranean in style, and is one of the richest and most complex sauces in Veracruz.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 4-6 cod or sea bass fillets (each weighing at least 150g), skin on
• 120ml olive oil
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2tbs chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

Tomato purée

• 9 tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• ¼ white onion

Sauce

• 80ml olive oil
• ¼ white onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 7 tomatoes, blanched in hot water, skins and seeds removed and flesh diced
• 3 bay leaves
• 1tbs Mexican dried oregano
• ½tbs dried thyme, crushed
• 1tbs fresh marjoram
• 1tbs freshly ground black pepper
• 3 pickled yellow chillies
• 50g pitted green olives
• 50g capers in brine, drained
• 50g pickled jalapeños
• 1tsp pickled jalapeño juice
• 450g baby potatoes, peeled and boiled

Method

First, prepare the tomato purée. Cook the tomatoes in a saucepan with 240ml water for about 20 minutes. Transfer to a food processor or blender with the garlic and onion and blend together. Pass through a fine-mesh sieve for an even smoother purée.

Next, make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about two minutes, then add the garlic. Once they start to colour, add the diced tomatoes, blended tomato purée, herbs and spices. Cook for about 15 minutes. Add the olives, capers, pickled jalapeños, jalapeño juice and potatoes. Leave to simmer for about 10 minutes.

Season the fish with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Place the fish in the pan, skin side down, along with the thyme. Once the skin starts to take on some colour and the fish looks halfway cooked, flip the fish to finish cooking. Keep an eye on the thyme; if it starts to burn, take it out.

Add some of the sauce to cook together with the fish for about 4-5 minutes, depending on the size of the fillets. Carefully transfer the fish from the pan to serving plates and serve garnished with some chopped parsley leaves.

Cocina Mexicana by Adriana Cavita (Ryland Peters & Small, £22)