Article Gastronomy

Es Niu: The Catalan Surf and Turf

The Catalan version of surf and turf, Mar i Muntanya, could refer to the region's main natural attractions — the sea and the mountains — just as easily. However, in Catalonia, it simply singles out the dishes made both with meat and fish.

For home cooks, surf and turf is the perfect way to make use of leftovers without wasting good food. Usually, leftovers make great ingredients for easy recipes like pasta, salads or casseroles, but the dish described below is not one of those. A chef braving Es Niu would be lucky to spend less than five hours preparing it, so leave being frugal with your time at the door!

Es Niu ("The Nest") is the number one surf and turf dish in Palafrugell, Costa Brava, where it has been invented. The Nest used to be simple, filling food consumed mainly during Lent: boiled eggs, salted cod, salted cod intestines, and potatoes were the only ingredients. With time, fishermen couldn't resist introducing fancier seafood into the mix, like calamari and cuttlefish, while land-based cork makers added game to the list of ingredients. Realizing that the dish was no longer Lent-friendly, cooks let their imagination run wild, coming up with Es Niu variations with pork sausage, squid, and even escargot.

Here is one of the simpler recipes for Es Niu:

Ingredients (for 6 servings)

  • 1,2 kg salted cod
  • 300 g salted cod intestines
  • 12 quails or similar small game bird
  • 2 onions
  • 4 ripe tomatoes
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 40 g hazelnut
  • 2 almond biscuits
  • 2 potatoes
  • 6 eggs
  • several strands of saffron
  • olive oil
  • salt

Preparation
Soak the cod in water for 4 days. Soak the intestines for 2 days.

In a large pot, sauté chopped onions with olive oil till golden brown, add tomato circles and potato pieces, stir-fry for a few minutes, add soaked cod, cod intestines and game, cover in water and leave to simmer on low heat.

While the contents of the pot are cooking, prepare the sauce called Picada Catalana: add garlic, hazelnut, almond biscuits and warm saffron to a food processor or blender, add a touch of olive oil, blend till smooth, season with salt and mix well once again.

Cut boiled eggs in half and add them to the pot along with picada catalana for a few more minutes of cooking. The dish may also be seasoned with aioli.

As evident from this fairly basic recipe of Es Niu, the cooking takes a good half a day, not counting grocery shopping and pre-cooking prep of the ingredients. This is why most restaurants in Palafrugell bypass Es Niu for most of the year, giving it the attention it deserves only during a special gastronomic event that takes place over the course of several weeks in October and November.