Caldero murciano, the typical dish of the Mar Menor

El Arroz Caldero, how to prepare this famous Murcian dish

This is a typical dish of the Mar Menor, and the recipe dates back to the 19^th century, when the fishermen of the region used to prepare it on the beach, using the small fish which were not good enough to sell in the markets and is a dish steeped in the flavours of the Mar Menor itself.

It is traditionally prepared in a Caldero, a cauldron-style pan from which it takes its name.

The dish is especially associated with Cabo de Palos, and once a year Los Alcázares celebrates a "Día del Caldero" in which more than 100 peñas gather on the beach at Los Alcázares to prepare Caldero together and share a meal with friends and family .

This traditionally takes place on 12^th October, the day of the Spanish National Day and one day before the municipal independence celebrations around which the autumn fiestas are based. 

Ingredients for 4 people

400g rice

200cl olive oil

200g prawns

400g of ripe tomatoes

6 cloves of garlic

4 dried ñoras (these are small, round peppers, popular in Murcian cookery, known as ñoras)

6 small branches of parsley

2kg different types of fish

Salt, saffron and pepper

Ingredients Alioli sauce

4 garlic cloves

150ml olive oil

Half lemon and salt

I egg yolk

Preparation

Clean the fish, separating the heads and washing them

Peel the garlic cloves and take the seeds out of the dried peppers

Peel the tomato (drop in boiling water for 30 seconds to remove skin) remove seeds and chop.

Now start cooking!

Heat half the olive oil and fry the peppers. Take them out of the pan, then fry the fish heads. Once theyre fried remove them, and throw away, theyre just for flavour, unless you want to make stock with them, and add the tomatoes. Fry for 5 minutes, then remove.

Using a pestle and mortar, crush the peppers, together with one clove of garlic. Fry for 5 minutes and set aside.

Fry the fish in the same saucepan with salt, pepper and a little saffron, then add the tomato and the processed garlic and ñoras paste. Add 2 litres boiling water (nb, if you have time, the fish heads and small waste fish are gently simmered in 2 litres of boiling water with a little saffron to make a fish stock. This is then used to cook the larger pieces of fish.)

Cook until the fish is just flaking, remove and set aside in a covered dish.

Remove 1 cup of the broth mix and set aside.

Bring the water back to the boil, add the rice and cook slowly until done. When cooked the rice is quite soupy. This takes about 20 minutes. Put the prawns on top a few minutes before the rice is cooked.

Make the alioli: crush the 4 garlic cloves, beat in an egg yolk, then slowly add the olive oil a drop at  a time, beating continually until a creamy consistency is obtained.

Finally, crush the last clove of garlic, and combine with the cup of broth which had been set aside.

To serve:

The caldero is served in a dish on its own, the fish is served on a platter with the final cup of broth and garlic over the top and the alioli is served separately with bread.