Time and method of catch:

Picarel are caught from mid-September till late April in special nets. Ancestors would say that picarel were too dry and black like cod in April. It was then the time when they offered them to the villages of the hinterland in exchange for a piece of bacon, some flour or corn flour etc.

Ingredients for 4 people:

(for picarel)

  • 1.5 kg picarel
  • 1 litre olive oil
  • 200 g flour
  • salt

(for kale)

  • 1.5 kg kale
  • 20 cl olive oil
  • 3-4 bulbs of garlic
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Clean the picarels of scales and gut them and wash under running water and allow to drain. Season with salt on both sides and leave them for 1 hour (whilst preparing the kale). Our grandmothers would, apart from salt, also put one or two finely chopped garlic cloves and several ground bay leaves on the fish. In the meantime, clean and separate the kale leaves under running water. In a large pot, heat the olive oil and add the chopped garlic. When the garlic turns golden, add the kale and cover the pan. When the kale leaves ‘soften’, add salt and pepper to taste. The kale will be tastier if you allow the leaves to stick slightly to the bottom of the pan at the end of cooking. Roll the picarel in some flour, and then heat the olive oil in another frying pan. Add the floured fish and fry. Once you take out the fish don’t salt them again!