From Piscador to Sephardi Kitchen Traditions
As we all know, the Spanish (Sephardi) have very clear titles for the ones that willingly participate in bloodletting at the bull ring. Matadors, picadors and toreadors all have their highly skilled roles fancy hats and costumes with some attracting more girls and accolades than others. The lesser acclaimed piscador, on the other hand, is more of a mundane slapper; his role attracts few accolades and even fewer women as he is charged with one limited task – to catch the fish and put it on the table.
There were always traditional recipes for the rag ends of the fish catch in what was once a naturally sustainable world, where little was wasted and everything was consigned to the pot. That was the real world of less, a world of poverty, hardship and meagre tidings. Whether an Ashkenazi Jewish type pugging around in the mud in the Pale of Settlement in Poland/Ukraine or a sunbaked Sephardi type from the Iberian Peninsula or nearby North African coastline, the less desirable fish always ended up being eaten as either gefilte fish or fish kitzezot.
Today people of wealth and substance try very hard, play at being sustainable, buy expensive recycled everything, smugly declaring and showing it off with the recycled or green branding (look at me look at me I care), but back then it came naturally with no choice, a world of bare feet, hand me downs and pots full of offcuts and offal. No one complained and if you did, what good would it do you?
Sephardi Fish Patties
This is a recipe showing how tasty the cheap fish can actually be with a few extra herbs, spices and a basket of nice red plump tomatoes.
Ingredients for Fish Patties:
- Fillet of mullet x 1 kg, skin off, ground or chopped finely
- Eggs x 2
- Fine breadcrumbs x ½ cup
- Baking powder x ½ teaspoon
- Salt x ½ teaspoon
- Sugar x 1 teaspoon
- Canola oil x 1 tablespoon
- Parsley x 1 bunch, washed and chopped
- Onions, 2 x medium, chopped fine
- Ground black pepper x ½ teaspoon
- Oil for frying
Ingredients for Tomato Sauce:
- Canola oil x 2 Tablespoons
- Garlic teeth chopped x 4
- Green capsicum diced x 1
- Hot chilli pepper finely chopped can be added if desired
- Tomato juice x 2 cups
- Tomato paste x 3 tablespoons
- Water x 1 cup
- Lemon juice x 2 tablespoons
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Parsley chopped for decoration
- Wedges or slices of lemon for decoration and use.
Method for Patties/Kitzezot
Grind or finely chop fish; add onion and parsley, mix; add eggs, tablespoon of oil, salt and pepper, sugar, bread crumbs; mix well, leave to rest in fridge for half an hour.
Make the patties or kitzezot and fry in 1 cm of medium hot oil until nice and browned, remove to kitchen paper towel to cool.
Method for Sauce:
Add all ingredients to pot, add the fish patties and cook on a medium heat for half an hour. Sprinkle with parsley, add a wedge of lemon.
Next week lemon curd tart, or as the Italians say, torte de limone. This one is unbeatable in both taste and tartness. A winner amongst lemon tarts.
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