Have you ever eaten a dish born at sea? Bullit de peix is exactly that. A fish stew invented by Ibiza’s fishermen, on their boats, with fish that had no market value.
The story is simple.
Fishermen went out for long days at sea. The morralla (small rockfish that would not sell at the fish auction) ended up in the pot with olive oil, garlic and potatoes. Bullit de peix was born of that necessity. It has since become the most emblematic dish of the island’s seafood cooking.
What goes into a real bullit de peix?
The base never changes: a sofrito of sautéed vegetables, garlic, saffron, bay leaf and at least three kinds of rockfish. The species depend on the day’s catch: grouper, scorpionfish, John Dory, sea bream or monkfish. Some more upmarket versions add lobster or prawns.
What makes the dish unique is its two-course structure. The fish and potatoes are served first, with an aioli pounded in a mortar. Then the cooking broth is used to make an arroz a banda, a fragrant rice cooked in that same fish stock.
In practice, you get two dishes for the price of one. Farmhouse logic applied to the sea.
The recipe: ingredients
- 2 kg of rockfish
- 2 ripe tomatoes
- 3 potatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 green pepper
- 4 garlic cloves
- Parsley
- 1 handful of almonds
- Saffron
- Salt and pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- A drizzle of olive oil
- 300 g of rice
- 200 g of cuttlefish, cut up
- 800 ml of bullit broth
The steps
- Sofrito: fry garlic, pepper, onion, grated tomato and bay leaf in olive oil
- Picada: meanwhile, chop saffron, garlic, parsley and toasted almonds
- Potatoes: add in quarters to the sofrito, stir gently, cover with water and cook for about 15 min
- Fish: add in slices (head cut in half), season and cook for about 10 min
- Finishing: 2 min before the end, gently stir in the picada (almonds and saffron)
- Serving: fish and potatoes served with a mild aioli
Arroz a banda (with the remaining broth)
- Cook for about 15 min and serve straight from the pan in the middle of the table
- Fry cubed cuttlefish in a paella pan
- Flambé with brandy and let the alcohol evaporate
- Add the rice, fry for 5 min, then pour in the broth
Where to eat it?
The most legendary address? El Bigotes, at Cala Mastella, in the east of Ibiza.
There is no menu. No sign either. You reach it along a dirt track and you have to book by phone. Juan Ferrer, nicknamed “Bigotes”, serves only one dish: the bullit de peix of the day, made with his morning catch. The same recipe for more than 50 years. The Academia de Gastronomía named it the best restaurant in Ibiza.
Address: Camino Cala Boix a Cala Mastella, 07850, Santa Eulalia del Río, Ibiza, Spain
Other places are worth the trip: Es Nautic or Can Pujol in San Antonio, Port de Balansat in San Miguel (an institution since 1971), S’Espartar in Sant Josep.
In Ibiza, people rarely order bullit de peix for one. It is a sharing dish, made to be enjoyed with others around a table facing the Mediterranean.
Enjoy!
Fish is everywhere in the islands’ cooking. In Formentera it is dried: peix sec, one of the typical products of Formentera’s cuisine.
