Gambas al ajillo

Gambas al ajillo is a Spanish tapas dish of prawns cooked in olive oil flavoured with garlic and dried chilli.

What it really is

The classic version uses raw prawns (gambas), peeled or unpeeled, which are dropped into a small earthenware dish of hot olive oil with thinly sliced garlic and a little dried chilli. The prawns turn pink within a minute or two, and the oil takes on the flavour of the garlic and chilli. Salt is added, and sometimes a splash of dry sherry or a little chopped parsley finishes the dish.

It is often confused with other garlic prawn dishes, such as the Asian or British-style garlic prawns that are stir-fried or battered and fried. In the Spanish version the garlic is cooked gently in the oil rather than browned hard, and the sauce is the oil itself, which is usually served with bread for mopping up.

How it's served

• Served hot in the small dish it was cooked in, often still sizzling on the table
• Eaten as a tapa or starter, with bread to soak up the oil
• Prawns are eaten with the fingers, shells sometimes peeled at the table
• Usually shared between several people

How to write it on the menu

• Name the main ingredients: prawns, garlic, olive oil and dried chilli
• State whether the prawns are peeled or served in the shell
• Flag crustaceans as an allergen, as the dish is built on prawns
• Note the heat level of the chilli, and whether sherry or parsley is added