Thursday, September 11, 2008

Ceviche de pescado

The New Centrist returned from vacation. And brought back pictures and a recipe.

Ceviche is a form of citrus-marinated seafood salad, popular in mainly Latin American countries, especially Peru.

Apparently, the marinade "cooks" the raw fish to an edible condition.

Of course there's the raw fish in sushi, which I cannot eat. But I do remember a sephardic delicatessen my saba, (grand papa) used to prepare, which was made by salting raw fish: Lakerda. It was very tasty.

6 medium size mackerels (or kingfish, or bonito)
2 cups salt, not iodized

Use only the middle section of the mackerel about 2 inches, by cutting off at 2 inches down the neck and at 2 inches above the tail. Use these discarded pieces for another meal by broiling or frying them. The parts to be used must be cleaned of all black particles in the inside. Leave outside skin on. Also clean out the white marrow in the back bone with a toothpick. These precautions prevent the fish from spoiling. Wash and dry. Sprinkle with salt on all sides, arrange close together top. Place a heavy plate over the fish, or a plate with a weight on it to press down. Keep in cool place. After 5 days turn all the fish over one by one, and cover again. After another 5 days they will be ready to serve. At serving time wash the salt away. Cut into small pieces and sprinkle generously with olive oil and lemon juice. Garnish with chopped parsley. Best time to make lakerda is in September or October.

I guess it's time for experimentation with new tastes, and remembering old tastes.

8 Comments:

At 12:50 AM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Any acid will cook fish, if you slice the fish thin enough. Herb infused fresh squeezed lemon/lime juice is a classic with sliced salmon.

Best regards!

 
At 6:57 AM EDT, Blogger The Contentious Centrist said...

What's "thin enough"?

How do you prepare Herb infused fresh squeezed lemon/lime juice?

What's that classic salmon?

Please, I want some information here, NWO!

 
At 4:12 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Its served as a cocktail hors'doeuvre.

Slice Salmon steak into thin strips about 2 inches wide and 2 to 4 inches long(across the grain), perhaps a 1/4 inch to 1/3 inch thick.. Olive oil on bottom of glass pan is best(metal reacts to the citric acid). Lay the cuts flat on the bottom of the pan. Squeeze lime(lemon) juice into bowl, a goodly amount, enough to cover the salmon slivers, your favorite herbs chopped up and whisked in...plus salt. Good herbs are rosemary and fennel(dont chop fennel seeds). For a slightly less herb infusion, just lay some herbs down into the lime juice as it covers the sliced salmon. Cover and refridgerate for several hours or overnight.

You can vary this recipe with all kinds of citric acids and spices/herbs. Check the net for ideas...under cevcihe.

Good Luck. Its really simple.

 
At 4:14 PM EDT, Blogger The Contentious Centrist said...

Thanks. Can I use garlic?

 
At 4:14 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And different kinds of fish, though fish with more body are usually more friendly to this handling, they dont flake and fall apart.

 
At 6:53 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link, CC.

Sounds real good, NWO.

 
At 7:35 PM EDT, Blogger The Contentious Centrist said...

NWO is a chef. When the Charlie Rose message boards were still active, he regaled us with many suggestions and enlightening corrections to our dogamatic cooking ways.

For some reason he has abandoned his chef dreams, and his chance to reach culinary immortality, for some steady job.

 
At 7:17 AM EDT, Blogger SnoopyTheGoon said...

Strange: I met lakerda only in Israel, where it stands for smoked fish.

 

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