Recipe
Pescada à Poveira (Traditional Style)
Serves
4
Active Time
25 MIN
Origin
ALENTEJO
During tomato season, there are no bad cooks.
— PORTUGUESE SAYING
Hake? There is nothing like the one from Póvoa, as anyone who has tasted it will tell you. It became a signature style of cooking that, when applied to a good and fresh hake, even if not from there, always results in a wonderful fish dish. The "molho fervido" (boiled sauce), unique to this dish, is a real "find" when applied to any other boiled fish. The Póvoa potatoes are also famous, grown in sandy soil, greedy for olive oil, yet demanding. They only like the good stuff, what tastes like the fruit of the olive tree. Although it cooks for some time, the olive oil must be an authentic extra virgin olive oil.
THE RECIPE
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 4 very fresh hake steaks (postas de pescada) from Póvoa, 5 cm thick
- 2 large onions
- 2.5 dl of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of paprika (colorau)
- 1 good tablespoon of white wine vinegar
- Coarse salt, pepper
- 8 medium potatoes
- 1 bunch of turnip greens (grelos de nabo)
- 2 eggs
- 1 bay leaf
Preparation
Rinse the hake steaks quickly through water and generously sprinkle them with coarse sea salt, preferably. Let the hake sit like this in the refrigerator for a few hours. Meanwhile, prepare the "molho fervido": finely chop the onions and bring them to the heat with the extra virgin olive oil and paprika. Let it cook gently over a low flame. When the onion is practically broken down, add the vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Reserve. Separately cook the potatoes, the turnip greens (only the top stems and smallest, tender leaves), and the eggs. Peel the potatoes and shell the eggs. Rinse the hake with water, drain it, and place it in boiling water along with the bay leaf. As soon as the water rises to a boil again, add a little cold water (to break the boil) and let the hake cook gently over a low flame for only the indispensable time. Remove the hake immediately from the water. Warm the sauce well and pour a portion of it into the bottom of the serving dish. Arrange the hake steaks, potatoes, and greens on top. Drizzle everything with the remaining hot sauce and garnish with the boiled eggs (cooked for 10 minutes) cut into rounds. Eat very hot.