Spicy fried rock salmon, marinated in vinegar (cazón en adobo)

If there is one dish which is typical of Cadiz, then this is it. We live next door to the busiest fish fryer in town, but they have a pretty effective extraction system, so we only really notice it when the wind is blowing in the wrong direction.

Rock salmon is just another name for dogfish, which is a type of small shark. The flesh is usually sold as a pinkish 'log', which is just the body of the shark, minus skin, fins and innards. The fishmonger will then cut this into thinnish steaks for you.

If you can't get rock salmon, you can make this with any white fish. I generally use haddock fillets when I'm in Scotland, for example.

Ingredients

500g of rock salmon steaks
1 clove of garlic
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
2 teaspoons of cumin
2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of salt
60 ml of sherry vinegar
60 ml of olive oil
Plain flour
Olive oil for frying

Method

1. Crush the garlic in a pestle and mortar. Mix the garlic, oregano, spices and salt with the vinegar and oil in a small bowl.
2. Rub the fish steaks with the marinate mixture, place in a large bowl, cover, and leave in the fridge for at least an hour.
3. Coat the fish steaks with flour.
4. Fry the fish steaks for a couple of minutes, then turn and fry for another minute or so.

Unlike simple fried fish, this one doesn’t keep so well because it doesn’t have the crunchy outer coating of the breadcrumbs, so don’t make more than you can eat in one sitting.