Fideuà de Gandía

Fideuà de Gandía is Valencian, from the fishing port of Gandía in La Safor, and it takes the dry-pan method of the Valencian coast and gives it to short hollow fideos, not rice. That is what makes it itself: noodles toasted first, seafood kept clean, and fish broth measured so the pan finishes dry, glossy, and a little crisp at the tips. This is not seafood pasta in sauce. It is a pan dish from the coast, tal como se hace allí.

The method that decides it is this: toast the fideos, build a dark tomato-and-garlic sofrito, then add hot fumet and stop touching it. Stir after the broth goes in and the noodles go soft and crowded instead of separate. Leave the pan alone, rotate it if your burner is uneven, and the tips stand up at the end. That little toasted edge is the prize.

If you're far from Valencia, spend your effort on the broth before you spend it on pretty shellfish. Morralla, the little rockfish used for fumet, is hard to find away from the coast; white fish bones, shrimp heads, or a clean fish stock get you there. No fideuà noodles? Use short hollow macaroni broken small, and know it will need a little more broth and will stand less neatly. No hace falta haber pisado España.

In my Margin beside this one I wrote only this: caldo flojo, fideuà triste, weak broth, sad fideuà. Pésalo, no lo adivines. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.