Spanish · Andalusia · appetizer

Cazón en Adobo

Name: Cazón en Adobo
Prep time: 14 min
Total time: 12 h 14 min
Cuisine: Spanish · Andalusia
Ingredients: cazón — 800 g; sherry wine — 150 g; water — 100 g; garlic — 25 g; cumin — 5 g; spanish smoked paprika — 6 g; dried leaf oregano — 1 g; bay leaf — 1 g; chickpea flour — 200 g; semolina — 100 g; olive oil — 920 g; salt — 10 g; lemon — 100 g

Cazón en Adobo reads citrus 6.5, sourness 6.0 and fruity 5.2 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Spanish · Andalusia appetizer, about 12 hr 14 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 4.4 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 5.9 / 10
Sour & Bright — 8.3 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 3.8 / 10
Rich & Fat — 5.6 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.6 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Citrus 6.5 · Sourness 6.0 · Fruity 5.2 · Richness 4.9 · Allium 4.1 · Salinity 3.8 · Smoke 3.2 · Earthy 2.5 · Umami 2.4 · Warm Spice 2.2 · Sweetness 2.2 · Nutty 2.2 · Funk & Ferment 2.0 · Floral 1.8 · Herbaceous 1.5 · Bitterness 1.4 · Marine & Briny 1.3

What's in it (13)

cazón — 800 g
sherry wine — 150 g
water — 100 g
garlic — 25 g
cumin — 5 g
spanish smoked paprika — 6 g
dried leaf oregano — 1 g
bay leaf — 1 g
chickpea flour — 200 g
semolina — 100 g
olive oil — 920 g
salt — 10 g
lemon — 100 g

Time & effort: about 12 hr 14 min (14 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 81.8 kcal, 3.9 g protein, 1 g fat, 13.7 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

In Cádiz this is bienmesabe — it tastes good to me — and it is sold in paper cones from the freidurías along the seafront. The adobo is a vinegar and cumin marinade that comes down from al-Andalus, and cazón, a small shark, is the fish it was built for. Ask for huss, rock salmon or dogfish at a British fishmonger; a firm skate wing or monkfish will stand in, but nothing soft and flaky.
Pound the garlic with the cumin, pimentón, oregano and bay in a mortar until you have a rough damp paste, about 3 minutes. The cumin is the dominant note and it should smell almost too strong at this stage.
Whisk the paste with the vinegar and water in a non-reactive bowl. Add the fish, turn it to coat, cover and refrigerate 12 hours, turning once. Longer than 24 hours and the vinegar starts to cook the fish and it goes chalky.
Drain the cubes and pat them lightly — damp is fine, wet is not. Mix the chickpea flour and wheat flour on a plate. Chickpea flour is what makes this crust yellow, crisp and slightly nutty; a plain flour crust is a different dish.
Heat the oil in a deep pan to 180C (355F). Toss the fish in the flours, shake off the excess hard, and fry in batches of six or seven pieces for 3 minutes, until deep gold and firm. Crowding the pan drops the temperature and gives you greasy fish.
Lift onto a rack, not paper — paper steams the underside soft. Salt immediately while the surface is still hot enough to take it, and serve within a couple of minutes with lemon wedges and a cold fino.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Chicken Shawarma Pita Wraps — Middle Eastern
Crispy Sheet-Pan Chicken Shawarma Bowls — Middle Eastern
Chicken Shawarma Grain Bowls with Pickled Onions — Middle Eastern
Chicken Shawarma Rice Bowls with Garlic Sauce — Middle Eastern
Grilled Peri-Peri Chicken — Portuguese

Keep reading: what citrus, sourness, fruity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.