A good seafood soup is hard to beat! With an array of fantastic flavours, a variety of textures, and a hearty broth to soak up with warm bread, a seafood soup can make for a great feast and impress any guest at your chosen event or dinner party.
Ibiza is renowned for marvelous Paellas and its typical Bullit de Peix, to name a few of their delicious seafood options. Generally, seafood soups, rice dishes, and fish stews are among the top traditional foods that diners will head-hunt around the island to find the very best on offer.
At The Ibiza Catering, we are fond of many seafood and fish varieties, but Barrafina Seafood Soup is, for us, one of the best! Not necessarily a typical product from Ibiza, but none-the-less, a really aromatic seafood soup, perfect for special occasions, that is designed to set the mood for a five-star party.
So we thought what better than to share with you our favourite Burrafina Seafood Soup recipe!
This is soup is relatively reduced and ends up almost like grilled seafood with a slightly thickened soup sauce. We’ve chosen a recipe that comes with thick crusty sourdough bread and allows for a sizeable main meal for up to 4 people.
We advise you to prepare your Bisque and Aijillo the day before for ease and make sure your diners are provided with sufficient crackers, picks, and bowls for discarding shells, with plenty of hand napkins and washbowls.
Bisque Ingredients (1.5 litre)
The pre-prepared brisque adds a wonderful flavour and is the basis of the dish. It also freezes well, so you can make as much as you like by doubling or tripling the quantities and freeze in ice trays, ready for the right occasion.
- 25ml Olive Oil
- 1kg raw Prawns, shell on
- 2 Carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 stick of Celery, diced
- 1 Bulb of Fennel, diced
- 1 leek, diced
- 2 Shallots, peeled and diced
- 1 whole head of Garlic, cloves peeled
- 3 Bay Leaves, fresh if possible
- 2 tablespoons of Tomato Puree
- 200ml Brandy
Bisque Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan until smoking. Add the prawns and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes, mashing and crushing them as you go. Add the carrot, celery, fennel, leeks, shallots, garlic, and bay leaves, and cook for another 30mins until well browned and mushy.
Add the tomato puree and brandy, and ignite to burn off the alcohol. Add 4 litres of water, bring it back to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours, until the liquid has reduced by about two-thrids. Strain a couple of times through a fine sieve and keep refrigerated or frozen until needed.
Aijillo
- 75ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 Garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- A small handful of Parsley, stalks removed and finely chopped
Pour the ingredients into a bowl and stir in the garlic and parsley!
The Seafood Soup Ingredients
Serves 4, Main Dish
- 275ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Garlic Cloves, peeled and finely sliced
- Plus 1 whole Garlic Clove, peeled
- 1 Carrot, peeled, and cut into 1cm dice
- 3 Bay Leaves, fresh if possible
- 1 Shallot, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 Leek (white part only), cut into 1cm dice
- 1 Fennel Bulb, cut into 1cm dice
- 2 sticks of Celery, cut into 1cm dice
- 1 large White Potato, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
- 80ml Passata
- 15ml Brandy
- 15ml Pernod
- 1 litre of Brisk (see above)
- 1 Star Anise
- 4 tablespoons Ajillo (see above)
- 2 Lobsters (400-500grams each), cut in half lengthways, bodies and claws separated
- Maldon Salt and freshly prepared ground Black Pepper
- 400g monkfish, off the bone, cut into 2.5m cubes
- 250g cleaned squid, with tentacles, bodies cut into 1cm rings
- 12 large raw prawns, shell on
- 4 slices of sourdough bread, 1 cm thick
- A small bunch of tarragon
- A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
The Seafood Soup Instructions
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and cook gently for 2 minutes, then add the carrot and bay leaves and cook for a further 2 mins.
Add the shallot, leek, fennel, and celery, and another two tablespoons of olive oil, and cook for 8 -10 minutes more, until the vegetables are soft but not coloured.
Add the potato and 2 more tablespoons of oil and cook for another 2 minutes, then add the passata.
Add the brandy and Pernod, cook for a further 2 minutes, then add the bisque, star anise, and aijillo, and simmer until reduced by half.
While the bisque is reducing, add 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan or heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium heat until almost smoking.
Add the lobster claws and cook for 2 minutes, then add the lobster bodies, flesh-side down, and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Turn the bodies and the claws over for a further 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then remove all the lobster pieces and set them aside to keep warm.
Heat another 4 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan you cooked the lobster in, and add the monkfish. Let it colour for 1 minute on each side, then add the squid and prawns, season with salt and pepper, and cook for a further 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the sourdough slices and toast on each side until golden brown. Remove from the pan and rub both sides with the remaining whole garlic clove, cut in half.
When the bisque is reduced by half, season if necessary with salt and pepper and add the tarragon and parsley. Add all the seafood to the soup and heat through on over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Serve the soup in bowls with the sourdough toast, making sure everyone gets their share of seafood.
We hope you enjoy learning and creating your very own Burrafina Seafood Soup.
The island of Ibiza is laced with many fine-quality and local products, so if you’re visiting Ibiza and want to try making your own, then why not shop all of your ingredients at our family-business supermarket, Samos Deli.
Better still, our catering team and private chefs here in Ibiza are impeccable at making our favourite seafood dish and would be more than happy to create that 5-star experience, hassle-free!
If you’re looking for a private chef or event catering package here in Ibiza, then why not, Contact us Today!
Please note, Barrafina Seafood Soup is one of the favourite recipes that Daniel (Owner, The Ibiza Catering) loves to create during his personal time, for his guests, and as part of bespoke menu options here at The Ibiza Catering. Its origin and methods are not curated by our chefs or published as our own but belong to the Barrafina Cookbook, where the famous Barrafina Restaurant Chefs share their secrets and recipes.
Barrafina is an authentic Spanish tapas bar with four superior locations across London. The a la carte menus comprise authentic regional dishes from around Spain at the hands of Head Chefs and Brothers Sam & Eddies Hart. Barrafina Seafood Soup was a personal recommendation from the brothers upon meeting them both during a visit to one of their famous London restaurants.