Pescado a la talla, a butterflied snapper that looks like Mexico’s flag with green and red sauce, gets passed around the room at Contramar, Mexico City’s buzziest restaurant, all day and night long. Traditionally, pescado a la talla is a grilled fish marinated with just a chile adobo sauce. But Gabriela Cámara, the mastermind and chef behind Contramar, adds a bright green parsley sauce to half the fish. The result is a crowd-pleasing fish dish that feeds a group of spicy lovers and scared-of-spice diners alike. (But everyone knows the best part is combining the two flavors in one taco).
To make pescado a la talla, you just need to slather the fish in the two sauces and bake it for about 15 minutes. Sounds simple, right? Well, yes and no; the magic in making this dish is preparing the sauces correctly.
Making the green sauce is stupid simple — it takes less than five minutes to prepare. The herbaceous sauce blends parsley, grapeseed oil, and garlic cloves. That’s it. Gabriela Cámara originally added it to her version of the recipe as a nod to her half-Italian roots.
The chile adobo is a bit more involved and takes more time because of its complexity, but that’s what makes it so delicious. In this recipe, we make it with four types of dried chiles, tomato, onion, and spices. Don’t let the list of ingredients scare you. At the end of the day, you’re just blending everything together, so it’s hard to mess up.
Making recado rojo
The adobo sauce calls for recado rojo, a paste of Mayan origin often still used in Mexican cooking. To make recado rojo, I use Rick Martinez’s recipe from his cookbook Mi Cocina, but I always make half the recipe because I never need that much of the paste. Instead of making your own recado rojo, you can buy achiote paste at the store, but I’ve found it incredibly difficult to find it in New York City, so I make it from scratch at home.
The one ingredient in the list that you might have trouble sourcing is annatto. It’s a red seed that gives lots of food in Latin America its coloring. You can find it at Latin grocery stores and Mexican markets in the spices section. I use the Badia brand, but any brand should work. Make sure to buy the seeds, not the powder for this recipe.
Choosing your fish
In this recipe, we use a whole red snapper. When you’re at the fish market, look for a large snapper with a clear eyeball. A clear eye means it’s fresh.
The ideal-sized snapper for this recipe is 4-5 lbs, but you can always buy two 2 lb snappers to feed a big group. Ask your fishmonger to butterfly it and take the head off for you.
Serving pescado a la talla
Pescado a la talla night happens at my house at least once a summer. I love gathering people around a big fish for a fresh feast. The fish is best eaten in a build-your-own taco with a warm tortilla, black refried beans, Mexican cheese, and a spicy salsa verde. I typically make another dish on the side, like a fresh aguachile or enchiladas, so the fish goes further.
Pescado a la Talla
Ingredients
- 1 4-5 lb whole red snapper butterflied, head removed
- olive oil
Recado rojo
- 1 chile de árbol
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp annatto seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 tbsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp Morton kosher salt (Morton is more potent than Diamond Crystal, if using Diamond Crystal use a full tablespoon)
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp lime zest
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
Red sauce (chile adobo)
- 2 chiles ancho
- 1 chile guajillo
- 1 chile pasilla
- 1 chile de árbol
- 3 Roma tomatoes
- 1/4 white onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 orange juiced
- 1/2 tsp recado rojo or achiote paste
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
- 1 tsp salt
- pinch of cumin
- pinch of oregano
Green sauce (parsley)
- 1/2 bunch parsley
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Making the sauces
Recado rojo
- Start by creating the recado rojo. You can skip this step if you're using achiote paste.
- Add 1 chile de árbol, 2 whole cloves, 1 bay leaf, 2 tbsp annatto seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1/2 tbsp oregano, 1/2 tsp Morton kosher salt, and 1/2 tsp black peppercorns to a blender and pulse until finely ground.
- Transfer the ground spice blend to a container. Grate 2 cloves garlic into the container along with 1/2 tsp lime zest and 1/2 tsp orange zest. A microplane is great for this.
- Add 2 tbsp white vinegar and stir until a thick paste forms. It doesn't have to be perfect or smooth.
- You'll use 1/2 tsp of the recado rojo for this recipe. Save the rest in an airtight container in your fridge for up to a month. You can make lots of other Mexican recipes with it.
Red sauce (chile adobo)
- Destem and deseed 2 chiles ancho, 1 chile guajillo, 1 chile pasilla, and 1 chile de árbol. Heat a large pan or comal over medium-high heat. Add the chiles to the hot pan and toast until aromatic. The chiles will fill the air with spice, so open a window or turn on your vent fan. You'll likely cough, so keep pets and kids away.
- Add the toasted chiles to the same blender you made the recado rojo in, along with 3 Roma tomatoes, 1/4 white onion, 2 garlic cloves, and 1/2 tsp recado rojo.
- Squeeze the juice from 1/4 orange into the blender.
- Add 1 tbsp grapeseed oil, 1 tsp salt, a pinch of cumin, and a pinch of oregano.
- Blend on high until smooth, then taste to see if it needs more salt. Transfer the finished red sauce to another container, and wash your blender to make the green sauce.
Green sauce (parsley)
- Add 1/2 bunch parsley, 1/2 cup grapeseed oil, and 2 garlic cloves to the clean blender.
- Blend on high until smooth. Because parsley is fibrous, it will likely take longer to fully blend.
- Add salt to taste.
Cooking the fish
- Grease a large baking sheet with olive oil.
- Place the 1 4-5 lb whole red snapper skin side down on the baking sheet.
- Use a serving spoon to cover half the fish with the red sauce.
- With another spoon, cover the other half of the fish with the green sauce.
- Put the fish in the oven for about 15 minutes until the flesh is flaky.
- Take the fish out of the oven and transfer it to a serving platter or serve it straight from the baking sheet.
- Serve with warm tortillas, salsa verde, black refried beans, and cotija cheese or queso fresco to make tacos with.
Would you rather go to Mexico City and have pescado a la talla cooked for you instead of making it yourself? Check out these Mexico City travel guides.
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