Sepia en Amarillo

Sepia en amarillo is an Andalusian coastal stew, especially at home in Cádiz and Huelva, where cuttlefish is choco and the sauce is yellow from saffron. Potatoes make it a full pot. There is no tomato and no ink here; the golden sauce and its nutty, garlicky body are what separate it from the neighbouring cuttlefish stews.

The part I won't let you rush is the majado, the pounded mixture of fried bread, garlic, almonds, parsley, and saffron. Pound it until no almond grit remains, then loosen it with warm stock before it goes into the pot. That is why the sauce clings to the sepia instead of sitting underneath it as thin broth. Add the majado near the end and keep the simmer gentle, because a bread-thickened sauce catches if you bully it.

Fresh cuttlefish is lovely, but properly thawed frozen cuttlefish works very well and is often easier to find far from Andalucía. If there is no cuttlefish, use thick pieces of large squid rather than small rings. Squid shrinks more and gives a lighter, less sweet sauce, so begin testing it for tenderness ten minutes earlier. No hace falta haber pisado España, you don't need to have set foot in Spain.

Let the cuttlefish become tender before judging it; halfway through, it will still feel stubborn. My Margin says only, "fuego bajo y majado fino," low heat and a smooth majado. Follow those two things and the pot behaves itself. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.