At the foot of the emblematic León Dormido Mountain in Rioja, we are going to prepare this centuries-old recipe hand-in-hand with Txebiko, chef and owner of the Cachetero restaurant. We are accompanied by Montecillo’s winemaker, Mercedes García, as we can’t leave out the wine, with the perfect pairing to enjoy with this food to be found in “Cachetero: more than a hundred years of traditional Riojan cookery.»
To make it, the main ingredient is a good deboned loin of salt cod. You should bear in mind that although it is normal to soak the salt cod for two days and change the water three times to remove the salt, when we are using the back fillet or loin it is better to soak it for 3 days, changing the water only twice, as it is harder to remove the salt from this cut. You should keep it in the fridge throughout the whole process. We will also use another key ingredient from Rioja, dried red «cristal» or «choricero» peppers.
Preparation:
1. Wash the dried peppers and cover them with water in a saucepan. You can use whole peppers or extract the flesh from previously rehydrated ones. Bring them to a gentle boil during 5 minutes, drain and set aside.
2. In a casserole dish, poach the finely diced onions in a quarter of a litre of mild olive oil; add the peeled, chopped tomatoes with the bay leaves and a pinch of salt. Cook over a gentle heat for an hour. Then use a potato ricer and then a conical sieve to create a very smooth sauce.
3. In a frying pan with a little oil, fry a bulb of garlic until golden and use the oil to fry the dried and floured cod loins.
4. Once the cod has been fried, place it in a casserole dish and cover it with the rehydrated peppers and the tomato sauce. Bring to the boil over a low heat.
The Cachetero touch:
This is one of those dishes that it is a good idea to cook the evening before, as the cod absorbs all the flavours of the sauce, and the dish is better combined. You can also add some fresh peppers.
Wine pairing:
This traditional stew is very typical of the Rioja region and calls for the authentic flavours of a Rioja Montecillo Crianza, a fresh, contemporary wine that retains the elegant essence of the Rioja with a certain complexity.
Ingredients (to serve 4):
- 12 deboned salt cod loins, 70g each
- 2 ½ kg of ripe tomatoes
- 4 medium onions
- 6 dried peppers
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 bulb of garlic
- Mild olive oil
- Flour
- Salt
Difficulty: moderate
Preparation time: 90 minutes
