B

y his own estimation, the restaurateur Sam

Hart has visited Spain nearly 100 times. “My

mother grew up in Mallorca and we still have

a family house there, which I’ve visited every

year since I was six months old, so that’s at

least 47 times to Mallorca alone,” he says.

Over that time he has developed a love

not just for the country’s food, but for the

Spanish way of eating. “If you go to

restaurants across Spain, people will order

a selection of starters to share, and then as

often as not a large main course — maybe a whole

fish or big cut of meat — that will go into the middle

of the table for everyone to dig into. I love that way

of eating as it’s incredibly social.” It’s also a great

way of entertaining. “You can just make a couple

of dishes for everyone to share and it still feels a

generous way of feeding friends,” he says.

Here he picks four favourite dishes from the menu of

his latest restaurant, Parrillan, near Borough Market in

London, including a recipe with just two ingredients,

red peppers and olive oil. “It typifies Spanish cooking:

simple in essence but reliant on good ingredients.”

Parrillan Borough Yards, 4 Dirty Lane, London SE1;

parrillan.co.uk. Recipes are by the chef director

Angel Zapata Martin

Simple dishes with incredible flavours — how to cook the Spanish way

VIVA ESPAÑA

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 50ml lemon juice


• 50ml cider vinegar


• 50ml extra virgin olive oil


• 150ml fish stock (Navarrico
  does a good one in a jar,
  available online)


• 25g salt


• 1 large or 2 medium sea bass,
  gutted and scaled

01 Blend all the liquids and salt

together to make the agua de

Lourdes. Pour into a spray

bottle if you have one, or else

use any container and a silicone

or regular pastry brush.

02 Pat the skin of the sea bass

dry with kitchen paper. Don’t

add any salt, as the agua de

Lourdes will season the fish

enough. Put the fish on an

oven tray and heat the grill to

medium high.

03 When the grill is hot, spray

or brush the fish generously

with the marinade and put it

beneath the grill. Continue to

spray or brush the fish from

time to time so it takes on the

Caramelised

roasted peppers

It may seem over the top to

incorporate three cooking steps

here, but none of them is hard

and you’ll be rewarded with the

sweetest, melt-in-the-mouth

peppers. This is best made with

long romano peppers from

Spain, which have much more

flavour than the Dutch ones.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 8 Spanish red peppers


• Olive oil

01 Over a barbecue or gas hob,

or under your oven grill, burn

the skins of the peppers until

blackened all over. Put the

peppers in a bowl and cover

with clingfilm. Once cool, peel

off the skins, keeping the

peppers as whole as possible and

catching any juices in the bowl.

02 Once peeled, cut large slices

from top to bottom and discard

the seeds. Put the slices in a

small cast-iron pot or ovenproof

pan. Add the juices and oil to

cover. Cook on the hob for 20-30

min on a medium-low heat.

03 Transfer the peppers to a

170C (190C non-fan) oven for

10 min until dark and sticky.

SAM

HART

Sea bass with

agua de Lourdes

Agua de Lourdes is a kind of

Basque vinaigrette that is

sprayed over fish as it cooks,

so named because it has such a

miraculous effect on the flavour.

If you are cooking over a

barbecue, you’ll need a foldable

grill cage — or besuguera —

to hold the fish so you can

constantly turn it. Failing that,

you could fashion your own out

of two grill racks tied together.

flavour of the liquid and begins

to caramelise.

04 Once crispy, flip the fish

using a couple of spatulas and

repeat the process. Once the

fish is cooked (about 15 min per

kilo), place on a serving plate

and pour over any leftover agua

de Lourdes before serving.

40 • The Sunday Times Magazine