Bacallà amb Samfaina

A Catalan recipe of cod with garden vegetables that celebrates the summer season and is a symphony of flavours and places

This recipe is a great representation of Catalan gastronomy and of its foreign influences. The star of the dish is the sauce and when paired with fish, it’s always cod, beloved for its reliability and symbolic significance.

The samfaina sauce is a true symphony of flavors. The word was used for the first time in 1890 and it comes from samfònia, that derives from the Latin term symphonia. According to the Catalan Studies Institute it is a “stew that is normally served as a side made with pepper, tomatoes, eggplant, onion and zucchini”. Usually the onion is reserved for the times the sauce is cooked with rabbit. Other popular meats to eat it with are chicken and sausages, while the number one fish is no doubt cod. 

Ferran Agulló, a Girona born journalist, described sanfaina as "one of the four basic sauces of our cuisine" in his Llibre de la cuina catalana (1928), along with sofregit, picada, and all i oli (which is the correct spelling of aioli). However, in La cuynera catalana, the great book of Catalan recipes from the 19th century, it already appears as a dish called platillo de xanfaina, although it omits the zucchini. Despite this sauce being a source of pride and Catalan identity, it cannot be claimed to have originated from there. There are many variations of this dish throughout the Mediterranean that I am sure you are familiar with. 

In the French Provence, we find ratatouille, in Sicily, caponata, in northern Italy, peperonata, in the Maghreb, shakshuka, in Turkey, menemem, in central Spain, pisto, and even in Hungary (quite distant from the Mediterranean), lecsó.

Since some of the vegetables cooked in this sauce are of American origin, it was probably the Spaniards who brought back the idea (and the ingredients) of a sauce made with tomatoes and peppers (that would have been spicy chill peppers). Thus, it could be that the sauce made in Andalusia and called alboronía influenced all the others. Food writer Nestor Luján called it “la madre de todos los pistos” (the mother of all pistos, or vegetable stews). Additionally, this Andalusian sauce maintains its original spiciness with the incorporation of paprika as one of its ingredients. 

Even more interesting is that the word alboronía comes from the Arabic buraniyya, which means "stew" and references Buran, the wife of a caliph from the 9th century that used to organise opulent gatherings in ancient Al-Andalus. In honour of the celebration of her own wedding a dish was created: al-burmayya, consisting of eggplants, zucchini, onion and quince stir-fried in olive oil. It seems clear how the conquistadores transformed this well-stablished sauce into a more international one with the substitution of quince for tomatoes and peppers on the 16th century.

Arabic techniques and American ingredients come together to create a sauce that represents identity (whether Catalan, Provençal, Sicilian, or Moroccan). And paired with cod, the most Christian of the fish, it becomes a delicious cultural melting pot.

A recipe from my childhood that I can now eat locally sourced in the United States

Funny enough, I am now a Catalan living in the continent where a big part of the recipe came from. Last week I went to my local farmer’s market that is finally back for the summer season, and I bought tomatoes, peppers and the rest of vegetables as well as locally caught cod. In Catalonia cod comes salted and you must desalt it before cooking it. It is so because before refrigeration came to make our lives easy, the main way to preserve food was to salt it. And cod is not a Mediterranean fish, it used to be caught in Atlantic waters by Basque fishermen. There are even evidences that Basque seamen had landed on the American continent decades before Columbus did, in search of cod and whales.

From the North of the Iberian Peninsula, it arrived salted to Catalonia. And its availability and reliability made it one of the most established fishes in Catalan gastronomy. It also became the symbol of Christianity as it was the perfect substitute of meat during lent.

But this time I didn’t need to travel far or make an effort to desalt it as it came fresh to me. I reconnected with this rooted recipe in a more meaningful way cooking it here, the place where some of its foundation took form. And even if it doesn’t have great significance to you, it’s still a beautiful way to celebrate summer garden vegetables and enjoy a symphony of flavours in your mouth!

Some tips

This is not a complex dish to make but you’ll need to allocate some time for it because the sauce needs to cook for at least 30 minutes so all the flavours are incorporated. Also, find a wide enough pan so all the sauce and fish can fit in later.

You can take the fish out of the fridge some time before so it’s not super cold when you fry it. Then, you need to coat it with flour and add it on the oily pan. It is important the pan is hot, otherwise the fish will stick (as it happened to me when I made this video). Turn it around after 2-3 minutes and cook the other side. Then reserve. Ideally, you’ll have some brown bits still in the pan.

You can add some more oil to start cooking the vegetables. First, it’ll be the peppers, and after they are a bit browned, the zucchini and the eggplant. Be careful not to burn the bottom of the pan (unfortunately I did during the making of the video as I got distracted…). You can add some boiling water to deglaze de bottom and bring all the flavours together.

Then add the tomato, that previously you have peeled (in the video I show you how I do it) and chopped, discarding most of the seeds. You can also use canned peeled tomatoes. I like the ones that are fired roasted as they bring some extra flavour to the stew.

Turn the heat down, cover and let it cook for at least 15-20 minutes. I ended up adding more tomato sauce so the color would be more intense and the flavour less bitter from the burned bits. This is a tip that I hope you don’t have to follow (don’t burn it in the first place!).

Then add the cod loins and cover again so it all cooks together for about 5-10 minutes more. You can then serve immediately or wait a bit so the sauce thickens even more.

You can also make the samfaina without the cod. It’s delicious with eggs!

Ingredients

• 2 cod loins

• 4 big ripe tomatoes, peeled and deseeded / 1 can of peeled tomatoes

• 1 red pepper, chopped in medium chunks

• 1 green pepper, chopped in medium chunks

• 1 zucchini, diced

• 1 baby eggplant / half an eggplant, cubed

• White flour, enough to coat the cod loins

• 1 tsp sugar

• Olive oil, enough to coat the pan

• Water to deglaze and to add if the stew dries out

• Salt, to taste

Instructions

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Servings: 4

1. Coat the cod loins with flour

2. Coat a big pan with olive oil and pan-fry the cod loins on both sides. Set aside.

3. In the same pan, add the peppers and fry slightly. Add the eggplant and zucchini. Be careful not to burn the vegetables. If there are many browned bits on the bottom, add hot water to deglaze. Incorporate the tomato and the sugar. Mix well and cover. Turn the heat to medium low and let cook for about 20 minutes. Taste and add salt.

4. Check if it needs more water and incorporate the loins. Cover again for 5-10 minutes and serve. If you like it thicker, cook uncovered and let it rest before serving.

5. ¡Bon profit!