Pavia Soldiers. Cod delicacies

How to make little soldiers of pavia .

I already wanted this fish recipe , one of the most famous tapas in Madrid, the soldiers from Pavía .

Although it is usually served as a cover in many restaurants and is a typical Easter dish, the truth is that you can also use it as an alternative to a delicious dinner.

The potatoes bravas , snails in sauce, pickled anchovies , shrimp butternut , the Breaded Calamari so famous Plaza Mayor (although I do not I just like), ear grilled, bacon, kidneys Sherry , the traditional gallinejas and intricacies … each cover has its bar or restaurant where they embroider it.

In Madrid you can find tapas to accompany the popular vermouth, going from bar to bar, on the same street, looking for this or that aperitif. Although I think now you either do it once a month or you can screw up.

One of the typical dishes of Madrid bars that I love is the Casa Labra battered cod. A place where I usually take my parents or friends who come to Madrid, I become one more tourist and we go to the Puerta del Sol to have tapas.

Little soldiers and a cane! It was the most repeated phrase in the Madrid bars of the Court, but this cod coated in saffron is not cat, but Andalusian.

The city of Madrid has been nurtured over time by thousands of emigrants from almost all corners of Spain. So there are not many dishes that can be attributed exclusively to this city.

From what history tells us it seems that this cover owes its curious name to the fact that its coat reminds of the uniform of the German-Spanish troops of Carlos V who fought against the French in Pavia, although they also relate it to the color of the uniforms of Spanish hussars during the 19th century.

You will think it is a half complicated recipe, no man no! Put on your apron to discover how easy it is to prepare it. Let’s do it.

Preparation of the cod and marinated

1. Peel and chop the garlic cloves, the mincing must be very fine. If you have a machacajos, almost better. So you will not find the garlic puree in the dough but you can find its flavor.
2. In a deep bowl add the chopped garlic and the egg. Beat until well integrated.
3. We pour the beer and then add, little by little, the flour and the yeast. Stirring vigorously as we incorporate the ingredients.
4. Sprinkle a little parsley, remove and cover the mixture with film to let it rest for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. After time, we prepare a frying pan with extra virgin olive oil and put it to heat.

Frying and final presentation of the soldiers from Pavia

1. Think that the amount of oil must cover at least half of the little soldier.
2. The oil will depend on the pan you use, its size and depth.
3. We cut the cod loins into small sticks about 2.5 cm wide (I leave the length at your whim).
4. The pieces should not be very thick, to prevent the fish from being raw inside when frying it.
5. Add a little salt to the cod and coat it in our orly dough. Then we pass them to the pan that will already have the hot oil and let them cook over medium-high heat, until the soldiers are golden.
6. Let the excess oil drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately.

You can see all the photos of the step by step in the next album .

Tips for some squishy pavia soldiers

• Be that as it may, you will not only find the soldiers from Pavía in Madrid’s taverns, but in Andalusia, although it is not usually prepared there with cod, but with hake.
• In some cases the final plating is usually decorated with roasted red peppers, but I prefer to accompany it with a good salad, and even more so if I go to dinner, as you already know that the pepper, at night, can be a little indigestible.
• As for the batter, I am going to give you my recipe, it is not the Casa Labra recipe, but at home it succeeds. I like to include a minced garlic clove in the batter.
• You do not have an idea of ​​the flavor so spectacular that it will leave you with each bite. But if you are going to cook for children, you can remove the garlic and include in its place a little ground saffron.
• In any case, the secret of this recipe is in these 2 tips. Having a good quality cod, perfectly desalted and having a certain height or thickness.
• The batter dough (an Orly style) should be a little thick and the cod loins should not be too thick. To avoid that the meat of the fish is crispy on the outside, but raw on the inside.
• If for some reason you are left with a mass that is too dense, do not get burdened. Just add a little water to the mixture while stirring, until you have a slightly thick dough.