RECIPE - Seafood Stew Antonio Houaiss (Peixada à Antônio Houaiss)

Antônio Houaiss, member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, was a twentieth-century lexicographer, author and publisher in Rio de Janeiro. His most enduring monument is the Portuguese-language dictionary that he edited from 1985 to 1999 and published posthumously in 2001 entitled Dicionário Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa, usually just referred to in Brazil as the Houaiss.

But the dictionary is not Sr. Houaiss' only memorial. As discussed in yesterday's post on Flavors of Brazil noted persons in Brazil and elsewhere are often memorialized by dishes created in their honor, and in Brazil a rich and luxurious seafood stew has been given Sr. Houaiss' name.

Along with many other intellectuals and literary figures in Rio in the second half of the twentieth century, Antônio Houaiss often chose to dine at midday in a downtown restaurant called Rio Minho. There, his favorite dish was apparently a saffron-scented seafood stew containing fish, shrimps, the strange lobster-like crustacean called cavaquinha, and boiled potatoes. Eventually, he became so associated with the dish that the restaurant decided to add his name to the dish to honor his many literary achievements (and his gastronomic good taste).

Rio Minho restaurant, one of Rio's oldest restaurants, having opened in 1884, is still packed at lunchtime with authors, editors and literary agents, and it's still serving many of them Antônio Houaiss' favorite dish.

Since cavaquinha isn't easily found in fish markets outside Brazil, you can very successfully substitute lobster tail in this elegant (and quite expensive) dish.
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RECIPE - Seafood Stew Antonio Houaiss (Peixada à Antônio Houaiss)
Serves 2

6 small boiling potatoes (or 3 medium-large, halved), peeled
2 extra-large prawns, peeled but with tails left on
1 cavaquinha (or lobster tail)
1/4 cup neutral vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry white wine (original recipe calls for Chardonnay)
1 Tbsp saffron
1 grouper or halibut steak
2 Tbsp Italian parsley, finely chopped
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Bring one quart (1 liter) salted water to the boil in a large saucepan. Add the peeled potatoes and cook until just tender. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon, refresh them in cold water and reserve. In the same water cook the shrimps and cavaquina or lobster for 5 minutes. Reserve the seafood.

In a small frying pan heat half of the vegetable oil, then add the minced garlic and saute for a minute or so. Do not let the garlic brown. Add the wine and the saffron. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for two or three minutes, then remove from heat and reserve.

In a large frying pan, heat the remaining oil, then fry the fish steak until it is tender and just beginning to flake. Remove from the pan, drain on paper towel and reserve.

Place the fried fish in a small oven-proof gratin dish or deep serving dish. Place the lobster tail on top of the fish and one shrimp at each end of the lobster. Surround with the boiled potatoes, then pour the wine/saffron mixture over all. Place the dish under a pre-heated broiler for a few minutes, or until all the seafood is hot and the liquid is bubbling. Remove from the heat, sprinkle the potatoes with the parsley and serve immediate in the gratin or serving dish.

INGREDIENTS - Cavaquinha, Brazil's Least Attractive Seafood

Brazil has long been famed internationally for the beauty of its inhabitants. The world's top model is the extravagantly beautiful Gisele Bündchen, from the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, and many of her compatriots regularly walk the catwalks of Milan, Paris, and New York. Male model and DJ Jesus Luz had his 15 minutes of fame recently as Madonna's boyfriend, though it appears she has recently moved on. And any tourist who has visited the beaches of this country can tell you that the felicitous racial mixtures that make the Brazilian people have resulted in a large number of very attractive people.

When it comes to comestibles, however, it appears that beauty might be even less than skin deep. There is a crustacean (Scyllarideae), currently in season here in Brazil and which is being fêted in special menus and in festivals all along Brazil's coast, and which must be one of the ugliest animals ever to end up as dinner. It's a cousin (or an ugly step-sister a la Cinderella) of the lobster and it's known in Brazilian Portuguese as either the cavaquinha (meaning ukelele-lady) or lagosta sapata (slipper lobster). A quick look at the photos below will show why this animal has picked up these names - the resemblance is clear, as is the similarity of the cavaquinha to any number of bad-horror-film aliens.

Once the cavaquinha is killed and dressed it's an entirely different story, however, as what the exterior of this lobster lacks in physical beauty is made up for by the sweet, clean flavor of the white flesh. With its flattened tail, the cavaquinha produces a large solid piece of tail meat that can be served in almost any way that suits traditional lobster, from simply boiling or grilling to more complex, sauced presentations. As with all lobsters, it's important not to overcook cavaquinha. If left to cook too long, the soft meat turns rubbery and chewy. According to Chef Geraldo Rodrigues of São Paulo's Restaurante Freddy, when purchasing a cavaquinha it's important to turn the animal over and press on the thinner shell of the animal's tail. If it is firm and resists pressure it's a good specimen. If it's soft, then there isn't enough meat inside. He counsels against purchasing frozen cavaquinha since with a frozen cavaquinha it is impossible to do this "pressure test." And he should know - his restaurant is currently in the midst of its 10th annual cavaquinha festival. In those ten years, I'd think that Chef Rodrigues has tickled a lot of cavaquinha tummies testing them out.