Swordfish with Orange Sauce
Pez Espada a la Naranja
Region: Spain, Valencia
Category: Seafood
Season: Any
Difficulty: Easy but long cooking time

This is an instructive recipe both in gastronomic terms and in terms of historical influence. Most food writers assume that many elements of Sicilian food derive from Spanish influence after the expansion of the Aragonese kingdom into Sicily after the defeat of the Angevin in 1282. According to this theory a Sicilian preparation such as cicirelli all'arancia, little fish in orange, would be seen as Spanish-influenced. But both Spain and Sicily were under Arab rule during the centuries before the rise of Aragon and at approximately the same time, Arab rule in Sicily ending several hundred years sooner than in Spain. The Islamic civilization of Spain and Sicily had many things in common, including a relatively closely related cuisine. Take for example this contemporary recipe from Peñíscola, a small coastal town north of Valencia. It is a very simple recipe that surprises in its good taste. The combination of potatoes and oranges is recognizable in the Valencia region: there is also a salad of potatoes and orange. But the seasoning of food with oranges has as long a heritage in Sicily, as it does in Spain. In the twelfth century Hugo Falcondis, the historian of the Norman Sicilian kings, wrote of oranges, arengias, as flavoring foods. It is known that oranges were regularly sold in the markets of Palermo in 1287 according to documents in the Archivio di Stato di Palermo, one of the first mentions of its appearance in Italy. Cooking fish with orange juice was typical of court cooking in fifteenth-century Italy and Maestro Martini provides a recipe in his Libro de arte coquinaria probably written in 1450 for sole cooked in orange juice. The original inspiration for using oranges as a food flavoring was Arab as we see in the naranjiyya of the thirteenth-century Baghdad cookery book.

The potato puree made for the dish should be quite thick because it will be moistened in the baking by the juices from the swordfish and orange. A Valencia orange is the same thing as a Florida or California juice orange.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings
Preparation Time: 2 hours

3 pounds potatoes     12 tablespoons (1 1/ 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature     1/2 cup hot milk       Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

One 2-pound piece swordfish, cut into 6 slices     2 Valencia oranges, peeled and sliced       Juice from 2 Valencia oranges

1. Place the potatoes in their peels in a large pot and cover by several inches with cold water. Turn the heat to medium and once the water starts to boil cook the potatoes until there is no resistance when pierced by a skewer, about 25 minutes. Drain and peel.

2. Push the potatoes through a food mill or strainer into a pot with 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter. With a wooden spoon, beat the potatoes with the butter while slowly adding the hot milk. Season with salt and pepper. The potato puree should be quite thick.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 12-inch baking dish and spread the potato puree over the bottom, right up to the sides. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.

4. Layer the swordfish slices to cover the potato puree. Salt and pepper the swordfish and place 2 or 3 thin slivers of butter on each slice, using 2 tablespoons of the butter in all. Cover with the orange slices. Cover with a sheet of aluminum foil and place in the oven for 40 minutes.

5. When the baking is nearly completed (when the swordfish feels springy-firm when poked), melt the remaining butter in a small nonreactive skillet. Season with salt and pepper, then add the orange juice. Cook over medium heat until it is syrupy, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the baking pan from the oven, pour the sauce on top, and serve directly from the pan.

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Posted: 01/11/2007