Robalo Adobado Y Relleno De Habas
"Marinated Snapper Stuffed With Fava Beans"
From the treasured pages of La Cocina en el Bolsillo No. 8
Written by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo
Robalo Adobado Y Relleno De Habas
"Se hace un adobo con chiles anchos, remojados y molidos con ajo, pimienta, clavo, sal y un poco de vinagre; se untan con este adobado los pescados, después de cocidos y se rellenan con habas verdes ligadas con huevo; se envuelven en papeles aceitados y se frien en manteca."
English Translation
"Make a marinade with ancho chiles, soaked and ground with garlic, pepper, clove, salt, and a bit of vinegar; coat the fish with this marinade, after they are cooked, and stuff them with green fava beans bound with egg; wrap them in oiled paper and fry them in lard."
Note on the Original Text
Nineteenth-century Mexican recipe writing favored brevity and assumed considerable reader knowledge. Quantities were rarely specified; cooks were expected to intuit measurements. Ingredients sometimes merged local and imported items, and spelling or wording could feel quaint to modern readers—'robalo adobado' for example, today might be written 'robalo en adobo.' Adobo techniques and the use of paper for frying suggest both innovation and adaptation to kitchen constraints of the time. The recipe leans on verbs—'se hace,' 'se untan,' 'se rellenan'—to succinctly delineate each action, creating a swift narrative tailored for the working cook.
Title
La Cocina en el Bolsillo No. 8 (1890)
You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome
Writer
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo
Era
1890
Publisher
Unknown
Background
A delightful pocket-sized treasure from the 'Cocina en el bolsillo' series, this volume stirs up a medley of flavorful recipes for adventurous cooks eager to savor the tastes of yesteryear.
Kindly made available by
University of Texas at San Antonio
This recipe hails from late 19th-century Mexico, specifically from 'La Cocina en el Bolsillo No. 8' (1890), part of a serialized pocket cookbook published by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo. These booklets offered everyday and aspirational home cooks a compact guide to a variety of dishes, providing a glimpse into urban culinary trends of late Porfirian Mexico. The recipe effortlessly merges indigenous and colonial traditions: chiles and native beans paired with European-style egg-binding and frying in lard, reflecting an evolving and cosmopolitan Mexican cuisine during a period marked by modernization and print culture proliferation.
Cooks in the 1890s would have used a stone metate or hand grinder (molcajete) to pulverize and combine the adobo ingredients. The beans would be boiled in a copper or clay pot and eggs beaten with a fork or wooden whisk. Fish was cooked whole, then handled with wooden spoons and knives. For frying, a heavy cast-iron or clay pan would be used over a wood- or charcoal-fired stove. Greased sheets of thick paper (papeles aceitados) acted as early non-stick wrappers, providing a safe barrier for frying, as parchment was luxury.
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
35 mins
Servings
4
We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 lb sea bass fillets (robalo) or similar white fish
- 4-5 dried ancho chiles (about 1.5oz), stemmed and seeded
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vinegar (apple cider or white vinegar)
- 7oz fresh or frozen green fava beans, shelled (substitute: young broad beans if unavailable)
- 1 large egg
- 3-4 tablespoons lard (traditional) or neutral vegetable oil
- Oiled parchment paper (or kitchen foil as substitute for 'papeles aceitados')
Instructions
- To make this dish today, start by preparing an adobo: soak 4-5 dried ancho chiles (about 1.5oz) in hot water until soft, then blend them with 2-3 garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, 2 cloves, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons vinegar until smooth.
- Poach or steam the sea bass (robalo) fillets (about 1 3/4 lb total) until just cooked, then coat them in the adobo.
- For the filling, cook 7oz fresh or frozen green fava beans until tender, then mix them with 1 beaten egg to bind.
- Gently stuff the fish with this fava mixture.
- Wrap each portion in lightly oiled parchment paper (alternatively, kitchen foil), and shallow-fry in 3-4 tablespoons lard (or neutral oil) over medium heat until the packet is golden on both sides and heated through.
Estimated Calories
320 per serving
Cooking Estimates
It takes about 30 minutes to prepare the ingredients, including soaking chiles, prepping the fish, and cooking the beans. Cooking takes about 35 minutes in total: poaching or steaming the fish, frying the wrapped packets, and assembling everything. Each serving is about 320 calories, and this recipe makes 4 servings.
As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.
We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.
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