Escabeche
Also known as escabetx (Catalan), soused
A preservation method in which cooked meat, game or fish is steeped in an acidified marinade of vinegar, oil and aromatics.
Escabeche preserves by acid. The food is fried or poached, then submerged in a warm marinade of vinegar, oil, garlic, bay and pimentón. The acetic acid lowers the pH and the oil seals the surface from air. It is one of the oldest preservation methods on the peninsula, descended from the medieval al-sikbaj.
The safety of an escabeche rests on the acidity of the marinade. A vinegar-led bath that takes the product below about pH 4.6 holds Clostridium botulinum in check, which matters because the oil layer creates the very anaerobic conditions the organism favours. A weak or diluted marinade under oil is the classic risk.
Traditionally escabeche is a larder method for partridge, rabbit, mussels and oily fish, kept cool and eaten over days to weeks. It stands alongside adobo and salazón as one of Spain's great non-drying cures.
Temple element. Roof, pH