Ray in the oven with potatoes. Menorcan cuisine
Ray in the oven with potatoes ©Oriol Aleu

Ray in the oven with potatoes

Ingredients for 4 people
1kg clean and chopped ray • 1kg potatoes • 4 ripe tomatoes • 4 heads of garlic • 2 parsley sprigs • 4 tbsp breadcrumbs • 8 tbsp olive oil • 1dl water • 1 pinch of  • round black pepper • salt

Preparation
1. Peel and cut the potatoes in medium slices. Wash and cut the tomatoes in slices.
2. Wash the parsley and strip the leaves, peel the garlic, crush all together and add the breadcrumbs.
3. Pre-heat oven to 180º C. Cover the bottom of a clay pot (a ”tià”) with a layer of potatoes, then put the fish on top, salt, cover with the rest of the potatoes and salt again.
4. Put the tomatoes on top and pour the olive oil and the water over.
5. Sprinkle with the crushed mixture prepared before and pepper. Bake in oven for 40 minutes.

Ray is very much appreciated on the island. We normally eat the fins, but the liver is also delicious. When you buy it, ask the fishmonger to cut and peel it as the ray has a very hard central bone and is covered with several layers of skin similar to the monk fish.

Original recipe from the book Minorca. Cooking and gastronomy. Triangle Postals. Photography: Oriol Aleu

See all Menorcan recipes.

 

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