Salpicón de Mariscos

Salpicón de Mariscos - Shellfish Cocktail

This refreshing summer dish is traditionally made with seafood, mussels or octopus and sometimes fish, combined with peppers, onion and a vinaigrette dressing. It is served chilled, often as a tapa to accompany drinks.

Salpicón is an aromatic summer salad found throughout Andalucia and there are many recipes, each family has their own favourite combination. Seasonal salad ingredients combine with summer seafood to create a crunchy starter or tapa.

Janet Mendel our resident food contributor has a recipe for salpicón in her book Tapas, a Bite of Spain. Janet has lived in Spain for over 40 years and has several successful cookbooks to her name. Try out her recipe below or adapt it to your own personal taste.

The perfect tapa, salpicón de mariscos

Recipe for Shellfish Cocktail by Janet Mendel from the book - Tapas, a bite of Spain.

Ingredients

• 1 lb/ 1/2 kg mussels, scrubbed and steamed open
• 1/2 lb/ 250 g peeled prawns
• 1 lb/ 1/2 kg tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped (optional)
• 2 hard-cooked eggs
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 5 tbsp wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• lettuce to garnish

Salpicón de marisco. Seafood Salad © Michelle Chaplow

Instructions

Discard mussel shells and any mussels which do not open. Cook the peeled prawns in boiling salted water for 30 seconds and drain.

In a bowl combine the chopped tomatoes, onion, green pepper, cucumber and chopped egg whites.

Mash the yolks with the crushed garlic. Whisk in the olive oil, vinegar, parsley, salt. Add the prawns and mussels to the tomato mixture.

Stir in the dressing and chill, covered, until serving time. Hold in a mould for a few minutes, chill.

Serve on a platter garnished with an individual mussel.

Makes 12 tapa servings.

Award Winning Food writer Janet Mendel, author of ten books about Spanish cooking, provides a taste of Andalucía.

Read our interview with Tapas A Bite of Spain’s author, Janet Mendel.

Read our interview with photographer Michelle Chaplow for stories behind the scene in photographing tapas for A Bite of Spain.

Buy your copy of Tapas, a bite of Spain

Tapas, a bite of Spain

A feast for foodies - the definitive tapas cookbook from Spain's best-loved English food writer. An authentic taste of Spain, "Tapas" is the book all tapas aficionados have been waiting for! Brimming with authentic tapas recipes and serving suggestions, Janet Mendel's firsthand research make this simply the best ever tapas cookbook. Each entry provides historical narrative of the dish, its constituents and derivations, a full recipe, plus a full-colour illustration.

Buy from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.es

If you're interested in more recipes check out the newly released tapas book 'Flavors of Al Andalus'.

 

The perfect tapa, salpicón de mariscos

Buy your copy of Flavors of Al Andalus

Flavors of Al Andalus

This cookbook explores the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. Muslims first invaded the Iberian peninsula in 711 CE, crossing the narrow straits from North Africa and taking over most of what would become the country of Spain. The newly-conquered land initially under the caliphate of Damascus, was called al-Andalus and at one time covered almost the entire Iberian peninsula.

Buy from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.es