How to order the best fish in Spain

Here in Spain, the fish and seafood are the best in Europe. But how do you know you’re ordering the right fish when the menu is in Spanish? 

Look no further – I’ve listed English translations (in alphabetical order) for every fish I’ve come across in Spain. I’m sure I’ve missed a few though!

To check out the different ways that fish dishes are cooked here in Spain, tap here. And for a few handy words and phrases on buying fish in a Spanish shop, tap here.

Que aproveches!

Fish (pescados) 

* signifies fish landed in our town, Villajoyosa (La Vila Joiosa) on the Costa Blanca. Look for the Cofradia de Pescadores logo to buy from local boats.

• Acedía: a flat fish from the waters off Andalucia in southern Spain. Usually eaten fritos (fried).
• Aguja – this translates as garfish, which I’ve never heard of. They’re a distinctive looking fish with a small spike on the snout, rather like a tiny marlin. They’re about the size of a big anchovy. Quite spiny but plenty of flavour (so I’m told by our local pescadería!)

  

• Anguila: eel (often sold as ‘angulas’ – baby eels/elvers)
• Arenque: herring. I’ve only ever seen smoked herring in Spain – a kipper in English.
• Atún*: tuna. You’ll find tuna everywhere on the Costa Blanca – from a few chunks in a salad to a full-on tuna steak. Carving a tuna is a real skill – there are so many different cuts of meat available. Ventresca, a cut from the belly, is common on menus in Villajoyosa. Pebrereta, a stew with salted tuna, pumpkin, peppers and tomatoes is a local speciality. See also mojama later in this post.
• Anchoas*: anchovies. They often come in olive oil, but are also smoked or salted which gives them a unique flavour. Use sparingly! We use them in salads and even pasta dishes. Anchoas are known as boquerones outside the north of Spain.

• Bacalao: cod. Try kokotxas (cocochas) de bacalao – cod cheeks – a Basque speciality. Try bacalao al pil-pil, also a typical dish from the Basque Country. The pil-pil sauce is made with olive oil, garlic and a little chili. There’s also a great Spanish tradition of salted cod, especially in the north, but you can buy it here on the Costa Blanca in any market.

  

  

• Bacoreta*: tunny/little tunny
• Besugo*: red bream
• Bonito*: Atlantic bonito. Sometimes known as skipjack tuna, though it’s not actually a member of the tuna family. You’ll often find bonito sold as salazónes on the Costa Blanca. A whole fish, split in half butterfly-style and then covered in coarse salt, washed and dried. It’s a traditional form of preserving fish, the only way of keeping it edible before the days of refrigeration.

  

  

• Boquerones*: anchovies. Actually, the same fish as anchoas (see above). In the north of Spain, they’re known as anchoas or bocartes, but in the rest of Spain, they’re boquerones. You’ll often find them served as tapas, either marinaded in olive oil, or fried (fritos). Delicious either way!

  

  

• Caballa*: mackerel. Very common on the Costa Blanca, great fresh or smoked. Try cold smoked mackerel fillet with horseradish sauce.
• Chopa: black sea bream (below)
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• Congrio*: conger eel. Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of eel – it’s something about the texture that doesn’t quite convince me!

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• Corvina*: stone bass or meagre. Often wrongly translated as sea bass, but it is a different species. Common on the Costa Blanca, often farmed, great al horno (baked in the oven on a bed of vegetables and stuffed with herbs).

  

  

• Dentón*: dentex. No, I’d never heard of it either, but it’s common in the Mediterranean and similar to bream. I’ve eaten it grilled in the north of Spain, where it’s called ‘machote‘ (rough translation – big man!). Delicious!

  

• Dorada*: gilt head bream. Often farmed. A lovely delicate flavour, especially the wild, non-farmed dorada. The wild version is more expensive, but worth it. You’ll find plenty of different types of bream on sale in this part of the world. Besugo (red bream), chopa (black sea bream) pajel (sea bream), palometa (Atlantic pomfret) and sargo (whitehead or zebra bream).

  

  

• Emperador*: swordfish (see also pez espada). Often served as a fish steak, but too often it’s overcooked and dry. It’s also over-fished; another reason we avoid it.
• Fletán: halibut. 
• Gallineta*: redfish or ocean perch. Also known as cabra on the Costa Blanca. Cabra also means goat, so some room for confusion there!

  

• Gato*: dogfish or catshark (also known as musola). It is a member of the shark family, but we’re not talking Great White here. It’s small, around the size of a sardine, and doesn’t have a huge amount of flavour of its own, so  is usually served with a sauce. One big plus point – as gato/musola is a shark, it doesn’t have any little bones, so it’s ideal for young children.
• Jurel*(or Jurel Grande): horse mackerel or scad

  

• Lampuga/Llampuga: dorado or dolphin fish (don’t worry – it has nothing to do with dolphins!). Has a delicious sweet flavour, we’ve eaten it in a rice dish.

  

• Lenguado*: sole. A whole sole, filleted and cooked simply a la plancha, is a joy.  
• Lisa (or llisa): mullet

  

• Lubina*: sea bass. Often farmed; the fish farm off our town of Villajoyosa breeds lubina. Try lubina a la sal – covered in salt and cooked in the oven (see the section on ‘cooking styles’ below).
• Maragota: ballan wrasse. A new one on me, but a distinctive red-coloured fish.
• Melva: frigate mackerel. Nothing to do with mackerel, even though the skin has a similar distinctive pattern. Melva is bigger and is actually part of the bonito family. The taste is similar to tuna.

  

• Merluza*: hake. A classic white fish, usually served with a sauce 
• Mero*: grouper
• Mojama: salted tuna (atún) which is then washed and air-dried to give a lovely, delicate taste. Usually served thinly sliced with a good olive oil. There are three classes of mojama – extra or especial (the best quality, cut from the interior of the tuna), then primera (not quite so good, but also from the interior) and then solomillo (the driest part of the tuna, nearest the skin). You pay accordingly!

  

• Morralla*: assortment of small fish of different species, often used for preparing caldo (fish stock)
• Musola*: see Gato

  

  

• Pajel*: sea bream
• Palometa: Atlantic pomfret, best described as a kind of bream

  

• Pargo*: snapper
• Pelaya: flounder, a flat fish, sometimes found in a dish of pescaditos fritos (small fried fish – see below)

• Pescaditos fritos: assortment of small fried fish
• Pescadilla*: whiting. Similar taste to cod, but the flesh is firmer and less flaky. 
• Pez Espada*: swordfish (aka emperador). We avoid ordering this fish as the World Wildlife Fund says stocks are declining because of overfishing. Served well, it’s delicious, but it’s often overcooked and dry. A squeeze of lemon over your fish will liven it up!
• Pez de San Pedro or Pez de Gallo*: John Dory. According to legend, the name Pez de San Pedro (St Peter’s Fish) came after St Peter picked one up from the Sea of Galilee, but then returned it to the water. The black mark on the fish’s side is his thumbprint. The alternative name, Pez de Gallo (rooster fish), comes from the spines which look a little like a cockerel’s comb.

  

• Pez volador: flying fish. Yes, they are found in the Mediterranean! Named for their wing-like fins which allow them to make gliding leaps out of the water. I’ve never tried one, but I hear they’re good a la parrillada – on the grill.
• Platero*: a small white fish, similar to anchovy (boqueron). Platero in Spanish means silversmith; bite into this fish and you’ll see its insides are silver. 

  

  

• Rape* (pronounced ‘rap-eh’): monkfish. Firm white meat with a distinctive texture. Often cooked ‘al horno’ – in the oven. Also often served as part of a rice dish on the Costa Blanca. Colitas de rape are monkfish tails, often served as scampi in the UK.

  

• Raya*: skate. Ala de raya: skate wing. Delicious in black butter sauce (a la mantequilla negra) with alcaparras (capers).

  

• Rodaballo*: turbot. A really handsome flat fish which can grow to a fair old size. Firm-ish texture, delicate flavour. Rodaballo is farmed commercially, especially in the north of Spain.

  

• Salmonetes*: red mullet. Delicious grilled on a parrillada. You may see salmonetes de roca (rock) or de fango (literally, mud). Salmonetes de roca are larger, more red in colour and tastier.

  

• Salazónes: salted, dried fish. A traditional way of preserving fish in a hot climate, which goes back centuries. The fish – often bonito in this part of Spain –  is laid on beds of coarse salt to draw out the moisture. It’s then washed and air dried.
• Salmón: salmon. Almost always farmed in Spain.
• Sargo*: whitehead bream. A fair-sized fish with zebra stripes, but I’ve not tried it yet.

  

• Sardinas*: sardines. Sardines don’t have a great reputation in the UK – most shops only sell them in tins. But fresh sardines really are full of flavour and great value for money. Try sardinas a la plancha (on the grill) – cook for just 3 minutes each side and serve with lemon and salt. Delicious!

  

• Trucha: trout. Not common here on the Costa Blanca. We don’t have the rivers! Any trout you see is almost certainly farmed, usually in the north of Spain. Delicious on the grill – four minutes each side and you’re done!
• Trucha arco iris: rainbow trout

Fish cooking styles

OK, so now you’ve selected the best fish, but how would you like it cooked?

• A la plancha/a la parilla/parillada: on the grill
• A la romana: in a light batter with egg (e.g. calamares a la romana)
• A la andaluza: in a light batter without the egg
• Rebosado: in batter (this could be either romana or andaluza)
• A la marinera:  cooked in a white wine + onion sauce (e.g. mejillones a la marinera)
• Al vapor: steamed 
• A la sal. A whole fish with scales on, encased in coarse salt and then baked in the oven. The salt makes sure the fish doesn’t dry out, so it emerges from the oven moist and full of flavour. The salt is mixed with water, so it is slightly damp (some recipes recommend egg white) and it’s then packed around the fish. 

  

  During cooking, the salt forms a hard crust. When the fish is cooked, the crust is then cracked open and discarded.  The skin can be lifted away easily with a knife, leaving you a perfectly cooked fish. And no, it doesn’t taste salty at all! 

  

• Fritos: fried (e.g. pescaditos fritos: an assortment of small fried fish). Sometimes described on a menu as una fritura de pescado.

  

How to buy fish in Spanish 

In the supermarket or pescadería (fish shop), ask the staff to prepare the fish for you – it’s completely normal in Spain. There’s a level of expertise and pride in the job that you usually don’t find in the UK, especially in supermarkets.

Some handy words and phrases:

• Me puede limpiar el pescado por favor? Literally, ‘can you clean the fish for me please?’ – this means taking off the scales, removing the fins and the guts.
• Escamar: to remove the scales from a fish (las escamas = the scales)
• La tripa: the guts
• Me puede quitar la espina? Can you remove the bones?
• Me lo prepara en filetes? Can you fillet it for me? (i.e. divide the whole fish into two fillets)

More fishy terminology!

Un pescado azul is an oily fish (like mackerel or tuna). A pescado blanco is a white fish (like cod or hake)

Un pescado demersal is a fish that feeds near the sea bed (like hake or red mullet). A pescado pelágico feeds nearer the surface (like sardines or mackerel).

How was my fish caught?

A lot of people are asking this question nowadays because it affects the sustainability of fish stocks. Some methods are a lot less eco-friendly than others.

Look at the label in the fish shop  – arrastre or red de arrastre means caught with a trawl net. Most of the boats here in La Vila Joiosa are stern trawlers, which put the trawl net into the water over the stern and then winch the net back in the same way.

A few of the smaller boats use trasmallo nets, which hang vertically in the water like a wall (gillnetting in English). More on fishing methods here.

Fewer fishing days

Tighter EU restrictions are being imposed on La Vila’s boats – in common with other fishing fleets around the Mediterranean – to conserve stocks (el paro biologico). That means a limit on the number of days they can fish per year. So on some days, part or even all of the Villajoyosa fleet stays in harbour. Unsurprisingly, it hasn’t gone down well with the fishermen themselves.

Fresh or frozen?

The label will also tell you whether the fish is fresh (fresco) or previously frozen (descongelado).

If it says ‘cria‘ it’s a farmed fish, not caught wild. Lubina and dorada are usually farmed in Spain.

Want to know more about Spanish food?

• For a guide to Spanish seafood, take a look at my post here
• For a guide to rice dishes and paella, see my post here
• Queso Manchego – the king of Spanish cheeses
• Jamón ibérico – the finest Spanish ham
• Prefer a meat dish? Here’s a carnivore’s guide to a Spanish menu
• Try a craft beer with your fish – especially a  plate of pescaditos fritos
• Try a  wine from Alicante – here’s a selection of the best bodegas

© Guy Pelham