FISH OF BRAZIL - Cavala (King Mackerel or Cavalla)

Anyone with just a bit of familiarity with the Portuguese language might logically think that the word cavala means mare - you know, a female horse. After all, the word for horse in Portuguese is cavalo, and normally words that end in -o are masculine and those that end in -a are feminine. So if horse (masculine) is cavalo, probably horse (feminine) is cavala. Logical, but wrong.

Cavala isn't a mare at all (égua is the world for mare) but rather one of the most common eating fish in Brazil. In earlier times, under its English names of king mackerel or cavalla, it was also a common eating fish in North America, but today is less commonly consumed there than in the past. Cavala is a very oily fish, with high levels of beneficial omega-3 oils. Only sardines and herring have higher levels of omega-3 oil per gram of flesh. However, it is that oil that has most likely caused mackerel to lose its popularity.

One of the supposed reason for the diminishing popularity of mackerel in North America and Europe is the perception that the fish has a strong, oily, some-would-say-fishy, taste. It's true that mackerel's high levels of omega-3 oils bring with them a stronger flavor, as oil carries taste more than does flesh, but if properly cooked and prepared, mackerel doesn't have to be overly-fishy. One way to eliminate this strong flavor is to buy only the very freshest mackerel, as the fishy flavor develops with age.

Cavala's popularity hasn't diminished in Brazil as it has in other world markets, probably due to the fact that there are still enormous stocks in Brazilian waters, and consequently the price is very low. Cavala is almost always the least expensive fish per kilo in Brazilian fish markets. Also, Brazilians tend not to shy away from strong-tasting fish, and value such fish rather than avoid them.

In an age of global over-fishing, the cavala/mackerel fishery remains one of the few that is sustainable at current rates of harvest. Vancouver Aquarium's internationally-recognized Ocean Wise program includes cavala/king mackerel in its list of sustainable fisheries.

In the next few posts, Flavors of Brazil will feature some typical Brazilian recipes for cooking cavala/king mackerel. If you can find mackerel at your supermarket or fishmongers, do give it a try. It's economical, very healthy, and can be eaten with a clear ecological conscience. And if cooked right, as the Brazilians know very well, it's also delicious.

Margaritinha? Caipirita?? What IS This Drink to Be Called?

Flavors of Brazil might just have invented a new cocktail. Hard to say if we have or if we've only reinvented the wheel, but we think not, based on some simple searches of the Internet. So we're boldly going to claim the invention, just as the first Portuguese explorers claimed Brazil for the king of Portugal without bothering to check with the people who already lived there.

The whole creation process began with a simple economic problem for cocktail aficionados here in Brazil - tequila is VERY expensive. Up until fairly recently, tequila was a relatively low-cost spirit worldwide, but that's no longer the case. The cost of a bottle of tequila now ranks up there with the premium vodkas and single malt scotches. To make matters worse, there is a very high import duty on imported spirits in Brazil, all of which means that a buying a bottle of tequila in Brazil is a significant investment. A simple bottle of unaged José Cuervo costs almost USD $45.00.

What's not expensive in Brazil is cachaça. A decent bottle, not a great one but a decent one, can be purchased for about one-tenth of the price of that bottle of José Cuervo that sits near it on the shelf. So when a friend of ours was complaining about what it was going to cost him to make margaritas at the bar he's opening shortly, we began to wonder what a margarita made with cachaça would taste like. After all, the taste of the two spirits isn't all that different - they're both clear spirits, neither is sweet, and they share a roughness and a hint of smoke. If a margarita could successfully be duplicated, or at least approximated, with cachaça, it could be sold at a relatively decent price at our friend's bar.

There was only one way to find out - make one and see. So we bought a bottle of curaçau, the Brazilian name for triple sec, and a few limes. The cachaça and salt were already on the shelves at home. Using the classic recipe we made a margarita that only differed from the original in the substitution of liquors. Our guinea pigs, a group of friends who'd come over to try out this new drink, were all unanimous in their evaluation of the result - it was uma delícia!. We agreed, and were surprised how much it tasted like a normal margarita. There was very little to distinguish the difference between cachaça and tequila.

Our friend has decided to add the new cocktail to his drinks menu at the new bar. Only one problem remains to be resolved - how should be it baptized? A name that gives some clue as to what it contains is probably best, and so we thought that a name that blended margarita and caipirinha was the way to go. Mixing the two names results in either margaritinha or caipirita. We prefer caipirita - it's less unwieldy - but it appears that someone, somewhere has used that name to describe a caipirinha made with tequila. Our drink is just the opposite, though, and there's nothing legally preventing our friend from using the name caipirita.

What do you think? We're asking readers of this blog to leave a comment if they have a preference between these two names, or if they think there's another name that's better than either one. Thanks in advance for your suggestions and comments.

RECIPE - Spring Chicken (Galeto al Primo Canto)

This recipe comes from a restaurant in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, called Don Nicola. It is one of the most traditional of the many, many restaurants in the city that specialize in Galeto al primo canto. The dish is so popular at Don Nicola that there is only one dish on the menu - Galeto al primo canto. It comes served with either spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce, or with olive oil and garlic sauce or with butter sauce. That's the extent of the choice. As they say at Don Nicola - take it or leave it.

Apparently most people chose to take it, as the restaurant estimates that they've served more than two million portions since opening over 40 years ago. The owner, Luigi Magno, is an Italian immigrant to Brazil, and brought his recipe with him when he left Calabria for South America. It was created by his aunt, sometime in the 1920s.

Galeto al primo canto can be grilled over charcoal or on a rotisserie, but the most traditional way to cook the small bird is between two hot griddles, pressing the chicken as it cooks. (The mechanism is something like those double griddles in which Italian panini are made, only much larger.) The recipe below is adaptable to any of the cooking methods.
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RECIPE - Spring Chicken (Galeto al Primo Canto)
Serves 6

6 small frying chickens (may be substituted with cornish game hens)
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
1 bottle (750 ml) dry white wine
2 Tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
1 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 Tbsp green onions, green part only, finely chopped
3 sprigs fresh marjoram (optional)
pinch nutmeg
salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
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The night before serving, prepare the chickens. Remove the skin, then spatchcock each chicken (Click here for a good demonstration of spatchcocking.) Put all the remaining ingredients in a large blender, and blend until you have a homogenous marinade. Correct the marinade for salt.

In a glass or metal roasting pan or lasagne pan, lay out the chickens, then pour the marinade over them. Turn the chickens in the marinade to assure they are well covered with it. Cover the pan with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Once or twice during that time, turn the chickens in the marinade.

The following day, take the chickens out of the refrigerator about one hour before cooking. Grill the chickens on a gas or charcoal barbeque, with or without a rotisserie attachment. If not using a rotisserie, turn the chickens over only once. Grill until the chickens are nicely browned, and the juices run clear. Do not overcook.

Serve immediately with a simple tomato and lettuce salad, and a side of spaghetti with sauce of your choice.

Recipe translated and adapted from Viagem Gastronômico através do Brasil by Caloca Fernandes.

Porto Alegre's Spring Chicken - Galeto al Primo Canto

Since Flavors of Brazil has spent most of this week in the far northern reaches of Brazil, with posts about the markets, seafood and fruits of the Amazonian rain forest, we thought it might be fun to take a virtual flight south, nearly two thousand miles by air, to the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, and its capital Porto Alegre. That's the equivalent distance north-south of a flight from New York to Aruba, or from London to the Canary Islands.

The south of Brazil is a very different place from the north of the country. The climate is temperate with distinct winter and summer seasons. The bulk of the population has its genetic roots in Europe (Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain) rather than in the New World or Africa. Even the way southerners speak Portuguese is different, with a unique accent and local vocabulary. And naturally the food is worlds away from the exotic fish, meats and fruits seen in the Ver-o-Peso Market in Belém.

Porto Alegre, despite its name which means "Happy Port" in Portuguese, is not a maritime city - it's located on a lagoon and is about 40 miles from the open sea. The food of Porto Alegre, therefore, is characterized by its dependence on meat and poultry as a protein, not on fish and seafood. Additionally, the immigrant communities of Rio Grande do Sul arrived with their culinary memories of Europe in their baggage, so German, Italian and Spanish-derived dishes predominate.

One dish that that displays these characteristics - probably the most famous local dish in Porto Alegre - is called Galeto al Primo Canto. Galeto is the Portuguese word for a very young chicken, slaughtered when less than a month old. In French, this type of young bird is known as "poussin" and in English, it's called a spring chichen (as in the expression "He's no spring chicken.") The remainder of the name (al primo canto) isn't Portuguese at all; it's Italian, and it means "at first song." It was Italian immigrants who created the dish in Brazil, and they used young chickens in place of small wild songbirds that were cooked the same way back in the mother country.

The preparation of Galeto al Primo Canto is simplicity itself. First, the chicken is spatchcocked - that is to say, the backbone and sternum are removed, and then the bird is flattened out. Next, the bird is marinated overnight, and finally, it is either charcoal-grilled, rotisserie-grilled or pressed between two hot griddles to cook. It is served normally with a simple lettuce-and-tomato salad and a side of spaghetti with tomato sauce.

In our next post, we'll feature a recipe for Galeto al Primo Canto from one of Porto Alegre's most famous shrines to this dish - one where the owners estimate they've served more than 2.5 million portions of this dish in the 40+ years that they've been open.

FRUITS OF BRAZIL - Tucumã do Pará

When most North Americans or Europeans think of palm trees, their first thought is not of a fruit tree - it's likely rather to be a photogenic symbol of either the tropics (coconut palms) or the desert (date palms). Yet both these varieties, coconut and date palms alike, are important food sources in their native habitats and elsewhere in the hotter climate zones of the world.

All varieties of palm produce some sort of fruit as a mechanism for reproduction, and in addition to coconuts and dates, there are many, many more species of fruits consumed in Brazil and other tropical countries that are the product of some type of palm. In Brazil alone, there is dendê oil, without which there would be no Bahian cuisine, there is açaí, there is pupunha, and there is buriti, just to name a few. All come from some variety of palm or another.

One particular fruit-bearing palm, called tucumã, bears a fruit that is widely consumed in the state of Pará, at the mouth of the Amazon river. In fact, the fruit is so closely associated with that state that it is called tucumã do Pará. The native range of this palm is from Trinidad to the Amazon, and it grows all the way up the Amazon basin, to the borders of Brazil, Peru and Colombia, but it's in Pará that it's most highly valued as a food source. The  palm is a particularly nasty-looking tree, with a trunk protected by thousands of large thorns. It's a wonder anyone ever braved those thorns to first sample the fruit.

Like many palm fruits, the tucumã is a source of vegetable oil. And like some other palm fruits, specifically dendê, that oil has high levels of beta-carotene and is consequently a bright orange-yellow in color. The skin of the fruit is also a woody-orange, and can be peeled away easily with the hands or a knife, although the brilliant orange of the flesh can stain the skin. The flesh is fibrous, and can be eaten fresh from the tree. Most tucumã, however, is pulped and strained to make what is called tucumã wine - actually a juice - which is drunk as a refreshment or used as a basis for sauces sweet and savory. Fresh peeled tucumã are sliced and eaten in a French roll in a popular local sandwich. The large central seed is also a source of oil, which has potential to be a significant source of biodiesel.

The enormous river island at the mouth of the Amazon, Marajó, has large native stands of tucumã and therefore a commercial tucumã-harvesting industry. In the next post, Flavors of Brazil is feature a recipe from Marajó for a traditional regional variation on Brazil's national dish, feijoada.

RECIPE - Ragout of River Prawns with Okra (Guisadinho de Camarão Regional com Quibo)

This recipe which comes from the state of Pará, where the entire Amazonian river system empties its waters into the Atlantic Ocean, calls for the small fresh water prawns called camarão regional, or in English Amazonian river prawns. (Click here for more information about this prawn.) Since there is currently no export market for the camarão regional, it's extremely unlikely that you are likely to find some at your local supermarket or fishmongers. However, any small, peeled, uncooked shrimp will work just fine in this recipe.

Besides the prawns, the other main ingredient of this dish is okra (quiabo in Portuguese). Originally from Africa, this delicious vegetable was brought to Brazil during the days of the slave trade, and is today eaten everywhere in Brazil. Many people have an aversion to okra, based on the misconception that it is invariably slimy or full of mucous. Okra does have the tendancy to become slimy when overcooked, but when cooked al dente, just to the point of tenderness, it is not slimy at all. To avoid the whole problem, this recipe leaves the cooking of the okra to the last minute, for combination with the rest of the dish just before serving.

Note: the recipe calls for a small quantity of a fresh herb known locally in  Pará as chicória-do-Pará. Confusingly, the name in English for this herb is culantro (NOT cilantro). It is common in Caribbean, Mexican, South American and Southeast Asian recipes, and can sometimes be found in food markets catering to those communities. If unavailable, it can be left out without seriously altering the taste of the dish.
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RECIPE - Ragout of River Prawns with Okra (Guisadinho de Camarão Regional com Quibo)
Serves 4

For the shrimp ragout:
1 lb (450 gr) small, peeled shrimp, uncooked
2 limes
salt to taste
4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped

1 Tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
1 Tbsp fresh culantro, finely chopped (see note above)
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 Tbsp green onion, finely chopped
1 small serrano or jalapeno chile, seeded and finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced

For the okra:
12 medium-sized pods okra
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste
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Prepare the shrimp: put the shrimp in a bowl, then squeeze one lime over. Stir briefly, then rinse the shrimp in a colandar with lots of fresh water. Return the shrimp to the bowl, and marinade them with the juice of the remaining lime, salt and one Tbsp of the olive oil. Let stand for fifteen minutes. In a large frying pan or casserole, heat half of the remaining olive oil, add the shrimp, the tomato, the basil, culantro, cilantro, green onion, chile and garlic and stir-fry for just a few minutes, until the shrimp is cooked through. Season with salt and reserve, keeping warm.

Prepare the okra: Cut off and discard the tops and tips of the okra pods. Cut the okra into rounds about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. In a small pan, heat the remaining olive oil, then briefly cook the onion and garlic. Add the okra and salt to taste, and stir-fry for a few minutes, until the okra is cooked but still al dente. Remove from the heat, and using a slotted spoon, remove the okra from the pan, letting each spoonful drain completely to eliminate any slime. Add the okra directly to the reserved shrimp, mix completely, then briefly heat the combined ragout. Serve immediately with white rice.

SEAFOODS OF BRAZIL - Amazonian River Prawn (Camarão Regional)

Amazonian river prawn

Amidst the bounty of strange and unusual fish and shellfish to be found in the stalls and boxes of the Ver-o-Peso Market in the Amazonian city of Belém, Brazil, are woven baskets of minute pink shrimp that come from the waters of the many backwaters of the Amazon River estuary. These small crustaceans are sold peeled or unpeeled; raw, cooked, dried or smoked; or still merrily swimming about in buckets.

They're known to the shoppers who wander the aisles of Ver-o-Peso as camarão regional, which would properly be regional shrimp in English. However, this little creature, with a scientific name (Machrobrachium amazonium) longer than it is, goes by the very accurate name Amazonian river prawn in our language.

Ribeirinho house

These shrimp live in the muddy waters of the thousands of small streams and rivers that feed into the main flow of the Amazon, In these calm waters, they are either caught in traps or farmed in large pens by those who live on the banks of the  river - people known as ribeirinhos. The ribeirinhos live a largely aquatic life, and depending on the rivers for water, food and transportation. The tides near the mouth of the Amazon are among the largest on Earth, with a daily variance of up to 12 feet (4 meters), and consequently the ribeirinhos dwell in small wooden houses on stilts, perched precariously above the high-water mark. Until recently self-sufficient in almost all things, they are only know entering into the economy, and trading in Amazonian river prawns in the only source of income for many of them.

A Brazilian social and educational NGO named Fase has been working with these riverside communities to develop a viable and sustainable shrimp fishery in the region. As the project leader explains in the introduction to the group's report on the project:

"In the estuary of the the Amazon River...the rural communities face a high degree of isolation. Travel from one community to another is only possible by boat or canoe, and travel from one community to another can take upwards of three hours. It is in this region, specifically in the municipality of  Gurupá, PA that the Ilha das Cinzas [site of the project] is located...A trip to the city of Gurupá itself takes 15 to 18 hours. The population of the entire municipality is twenty-six thousand (two thousand families), the majority of whom are ribeirinhos."

Thanks to Fase's project, over the six-year development period of the shrimp fishery among the ribeirinhos their average monthly income per family rose from R$128 (USD $80) to R$310 (USD $196). The fishery is now sustainable, and at least for the time being can meet the demand for Amazonian river prawns at the market of Ver-o-Peso, in the restaurants of Belém and other cities along the Amazon. Thanks to the efforts of some chef-advocates for Amazonian food, the little camarão regional is also beginning to show up in restaurants farther afield, in places like Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, or Belo Horizonte. Either frozen or dried and smoked for transportion, the sweet flesh of these little shrimps is becoming valued throughout Brazil.

There's no export market currently for these shrimp, but with increased cultivation and proper conservation, there's no reason the camarão regional  couldn't move beyond Brazilian shores and become appreciated elsewhere in our increasinly connected world. That wouldn't be a bad thing, economically, for the ribeirinhos of the Amazon estuary. Nor for the gustatory experience of those who learn to appreciate their unique taste.