Shrimp stew recipe brings together tastes, tales of two countries
The hearty shrimp stew is perfect for this time of year, with plenty of garlic to protect from vampires and flavorful saffron.
Courtesy of Maureen Meehan
I think today’s shrimp stew recipe originated in Spain, discovered by me when I was there last year to learn about saffron— where it came from and how it was used.
The world’s most expensive spice comes from the tiny bright-orange, pollen-bearing stamen of autumn-blooming crocuses, painstakingly harvested and processed.
The miniscule, bright-orange stigma of the tiny purple saffron crocus are harvested to make saffron.
Janet Podolak
It seems like 100 years ago with all that’s happened in the world since then, but it was just about a year ago. I was there on Halloween and my story ran Nov. 12. If you’d like to see it and learn about Consuegra and saffron go to my post: Oh saffron...
Consuegra, where saffron is grown and celebrated with an annual autumn saffron festival, is in Castilla-LaMancha, south of Madrid and not far from Toledo. It was a wonderful visit, full of sights, sounds and flavors of the region.
I collected many recipes on that trip that were accented by the slightly bitter, slightly sweet floral flavors of saffron, including the one for shrimp stew I’m giving you today. In most cases, they were verbal recipes given by the chefs who made them with help from a fluent Spanish speaker, which I am not.
The recipe today came from notes in my reporter’s notebook and was modified and prepared at my home back in Mentor, Ohio.
It’s been modified to use ingredients we can find at our local grocery store. The dish I had in Spain used a stock made from shrimp shells and other fish pieces slowly simmered together with wine. I substituted bottled clam juice, which seems to have worked well and added the wine.
The dish is a hearty and garlicky one, perfect for this time of year. (Protection from vampires!) But it’s full of flavor and goes together quickly. The only time-consuming part is chopping the onion, fennel and garlic before putting it all together.
The fiery rouille is spread on toast and meant for dipping into the stew as you eat.
Courtesy of Maureen Meehan
It’s served with toasts for dipping that are spread with rouille , a fiery sauce I first ate in France when I had the fish stew called bouillabaisse in Marseilles, where it originated. My recipe tones it down a bit, but if you like it hot, add a little more cayenne pepper. I used my mortar and pestle to mash together the garlic and salt for the rouille, but you can use the back of a wooden spoon. Just make sure the garlic cloves are finely minced.
I loved my meal, but the stew was too intense for my husband. So I shared it with my longtime friend Maureen, who took today’s photos and proclaimed it as wonderful.
Spanish Shrimp Stew
(Serves 6)
For the rouille:
Ingredients
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
Pinch (or more) cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Mash together the minced garlic and the salt in a mortar and pestle or with the back of a wooden spoon.
Mix in a small bowl with the mayonnaise, lemon juice.
Paprika, cayenne pepper and olive oil.
For the stew:
Ingredients
1 fennel bulb, cored and chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons extra virgin oilive oil
3 1-inch strips of orange zest (Carefully remove the orange peel leaving the white pith behind)
Pinch of ground cloves
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup bottled clam juice
1 cup canned whole tomatoes, chopped
2 or 3 pinches of saffron threads
½ teaspoon ground pepper
Salt to taste
1½ pound jumbo shrimp, peeled
Instructions
Heat 2 tablespoons oil and add chopped fennel and onion.
Cook until softened, about 7 minutes.
Add garlic, orange zest, ground loves and saffron.
Add wine and cook 5 minutes until almost evaporated.
Add clam juice, tomatoes, saffron and ½ cup water.
Bring to boil.
Season with salt and pepper and then simmer until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
Add shrimp, cover and cook 5 minutes.
Spread rouille on toast and serve alongside the stew.
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