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Earthenware pot with a thick reddish sauce, pieces of eel with skin on, potatoes and garlic cloves in view

Eel all i pebre

Eel all i pebre: Valencian recipe

Eel all i pebre for 6: fried, crushed garlic, potato cooked with paprika and the eel in pieces at the end, in a bound sauce for dipping bread.

Traditional recipe

Yield
6 servings
Total time
50 min
Difficulty
Medium
Region
Valencia
Xepep

Eel all i pebre

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

Stew

  • 1 kgFresh eel
  • 1.2 kgPotatoes
  • 2 pcsHeads of garlic
  • 2 tbspSweet paprika
  • to tasteWater
  • to tasteOlive oil
  • to tasteSalt and pepper
  • to tasteBread (optional)

Ingredients

    Recipe PDF (Yield base: 6 servings)

    Steps

    1. 1
      Fry the 2 pcs cloves, halved, in to taste over a low heat and set them aside. If you like, fry a few slices of to taste with them.
    2. 2
      Peel and wash the 1.2 kg, cut them into pieces and add them to the garlic oil. Turn up the heat and cook them for about 5 minutes.5 min
    3. 3
      Add the 2 tbsp, cover with to taste and cook for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.20 min
    4. 4
      Crush the reserved garlic in the mortar, and the fried bread if you used it, with a little to taste.
    5. 5
      Add the paste to the pot along with the 1 kg, cut into pieces. Cook over a medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces.15 min
    6. 6
      Adjust the salt and pepper, switch off the heat and leave to rest for a few minutes.
    7. 7
      Serve it freshly made, with bread for dipping.
    Eel already cut into pieces on a wooden board

    All i pebre is a stew with few ingredients and a lot of technique: it comes down to the order of the garlic, the paprika and the potato, and to not overcooking the fish. This recipe follows the Real Academia de Gastronomía’s for six servings and doesn’t mix in measures from others: the sources publish very different proportions.

    The garlic: fried, set aside and crushed

    The garlic goes first, halved, over a low heat in the oil. It is fried calmly and set aside: later it is crushed in the mortar with a little salt and returns to the pot as a paste. It is what gives body and aroma. The Real Academia adds a note: traditionally a few slices of bread are also fried with the garlic and crushed with it, to thicken. Consum, on the other hand, says the original recipe allows neither bread nor an almond picada. That is why the bread is optional here.

    The potato and the paprika

    The potato goes into the garlic oil, the heat is turned up and it is cooked for about five minutes. Then the paprika goes in and it is covered with water; Consum, in its version, adds the water straight after the paprika so it doesn’t burn. About 20 minutes later, the potatoes are soft.

    Comunitat Valenciana and Consum agree that the potato is broken on purpose, so it releases starch and the sauce binds. The sauce has to come out set, not runny: it is for dipping bread.

    The eel: at the end and without hurry

    The fish goes in at the end, cut into pieces, with the garlic paste: 10 to 15 minutes over a medium heat, depending on the size of the pieces. Adjust the salt and pepper, switch off and leave to rest for a few minutes. The Real Academia gives monkfish as a popular substitute for eel; Consum also cites hake and octopus. With another fish, the timings and texture change.

    The Real Academia says to serve it freshly made, once those minutes of rest are over, and Consum reminds us that the sauce is for dipping bread. So take the pot to the table with plenty of bread and do not wait for it to cool.

    Beware of the name confusion

    All i pebre has no rice, so it isn’t an “eel rice”. And it isn’t allioli either: allioli is the garlic and oil sauce, and here “all” is just the garlic of the title, alongside the red paprika. For a Valencian dish with fish and stock, there is the arròs a banda; for another fish stew, this time with an almond picada, the suquet de peix.

    What changes between one recipe and another

    The sources don’t agree, and it is worth knowing. The Real Academia makes six servings with a kilo of eel and 1.2 kg of potato, in about 50 minutes. Comunitat Valenciana, with the Casa El Chesús recipe, makes four servings with half a kilo of eel, bay leaf, almond and a touch of cayenne, in about 15 minutes of cooking, and notes that an earthenware pot is traditionally used. Consum asks for one or two chillies and 20 to 25 minutes over a high heat. They are variations on the same idea; choose one and stick to it.

    Mistakes that will cost you

    • Letting the paprika burn. It goes in after the potatoes and is covered with water.
    • Overcooking the fish. 10 or 15 minutes is enough, depending on the size of the pieces.
    • Watery sauce. It should come out bound, for dipping bread.
    • Serving without resting. A few minutes off the heat settle the stew.

    If there are lots of you at the table

    It is a spoon-and-bread stew, for tables with time to spare. If there are lots of you, we cook for groups at paellas and show cooking, and to work out how much to allow per guest, there is the guide to how much rice per person.

    History and variations

    It is a classic of the Albufera of València and its origin is unclear. Consum says it was born in the fishing port of Catarroja, on the Albufera; Comunitat Valenciana fixes no origin and names El Palmar and Catarroja as places to try it. The name is literal: garlic and red paprika.

    Valencia: With almond in the picada, in Casa El Chesús’s version; Consum says the original recipe allows neither almonds nor bread, although the Real Academia cites fried bread. Sources

    The 14 allergens

    Tips

    Let the stew rest for a few minutes before serving; the Real Academia de Gastronomía says so when switching off the heat. Sources

    The sauce should come out bound, not runny: it is for dipping bread. Sources

    Mortar with fried garlic and sweet paprika

    Eel all i pebre

    Frequently asked questions

    What is pebre in Valencian?

    In the dish, pebre is the red paprika: Consum translates the literal name as “garlic and red paprika”, and Comunitat Valenciana lists pebre roig dolç, sweet paprika. In the Real Academia de Gastronomía recipe, 2 tablespoons of sweet paprika go in after the potatoes, which are softened first.

    What are the ingredients of pebre?

    Garlic and sweet paprika as the base, and potato to bind the sauce. The Real Academia de Gastronomía adds oil, salt and pepper; Consum, one or two chillies; Comunitat Valenciana, bay leaf, almonds and a touch of cayenne. Each version varies; this recipe follows only the Real Academia’s, without mixing quantities from others.

    How do you make all i pebre with fish?

    With the same base of garlic, paprika and potato, and the fish at the end. The Real Academia de Gastronomía suggests monkfish as a substitute for the eel, and Consum also cites monkfish, hake and octopus. Cooking times change according to the fish: this recipe gives those for eel, 10 to 15 minutes.

    Does all i pebre contain almonds or bread?

    It depends on the source. Consum states that the original recipe allows neither an almond picada nor bread to thicken it. The Real Academia de Gastronomía points out that slices of bread are traditionally fried with the garlic and crushed with it, and the Casa El Chesús recipe, in Comunitat Valenciana, has ground almond. Here the bread is optional.

    Sources

    Glossary terms

    Recipes