Suquet de peix: Catalan fisherman's stew
Costa Brava, Catalonia
The foundational Catalan fish stew of the Costa Brava fishing villages — built on a sofregit base, finished with a picada of almonds and garlic, and made from whatever came off the boat that morning. Suquet is simultaneously the simplest and most technically demanding Catalan seafood preparation: the sofregit must be cooked until almost jammy; the picada must be worked into the broth at the last moment to thicken and flavour simultaneously; the fish must be poached gently in the finished broth, never boiled.
The word suquet comes from suc — juice. The dish is about the liquid, which is reddish-brown from the sofregit and thickened by the picada's fried nuts and bread.