Hometown Crab - Caranguejo-Uçá

For thousands of local residents Thursday night in Fortaleza, Ceará, Flavors of Brazil's hometown, means only one thing - crab. On Thursday nights, beachside and downtown bars restaurants alike serve up thousands of crabs to hungry diners. On Tuesday almost no one orders crab, nor on Wednesday or Saturday, but on Thursday the first question a waiter will ask you is likely to be "How many?" rather than "What would you like?". You give him a number and off he goes. He sets the table with small wooden chopping boards and wooden hammers, lots of paper napkins, a plastic bowl for empty shells and hot sauce. Then he brings the feast - small crabs steamed/cooked in a rich broth of coconut milk seasoned with onion, tomatoes and cilantro. A crab goes on the chopping board, you rip the legs off, use the hammer to open them, and the feast begins. And to accompany the crabs? Plenty of icy cold beer, or soft drinks. That's all.

Late last year, when we introduced some friends visiting from Canada to the Thursday night crab ritual, they exclaimed in shock when the bowl of crabs arrived at the table - "Yech! Their legs are hairy!!" And true it was. But once we explained that the hair doesn't come off and that in fact if you dip one of the legs into the delicious broth the hair helps to bring the broth to your mouth they began to relax and to enjoy the meal. But it was a definite culture-shock moment, that first sight of the hirsute crustaceans.

Mangrove swamp

The overwhelming majority of crabs served on these Thursday night blowouts is a species called (in Portuguese) caranguejo-uçá. Caranguejo is the Portuguese word for crab - any crab - and  uçá is a Portuguese adaptation of the species' taxonomic name (Ucides cordatus). Uçá crabs are small, about the same size as an adult human hand. The species is one of two known as mangrove crabs, as their unique habitat are muddy mangrove swamps. The animals live on and in the mud, burrowing in when the tide is high and scuttling about when the tide is low. They are very important to the ecology of mangrove swamps, which are plentiful along the northeast and north coasts of Brazil.

crabs on a string

Most of the supply of crabs for Fortaleza's restaurants and bars comes from the area around delta of the Parnaíba river, about 250 kms. away, in the neighboring state of Piauí. In the city of Parnaíba, located near the mouth of the river and within close distance to miles of coastal mangrove swamps, the harvest and merchandising of crabs are the prime local economic activity. Crabs are commonly sold by the string - each string containing four crabs. Each week during crabbing season about 65,000 strings of crabs are sold in Parnaíba. A crab fisher received 25 centavos (R$0.25) for a string, a price which by the time it reaches a restaurant or bar in Fortaleza sells for R$10. In most beach bars and casual restaurants in Fortaleza, each crab sells for about R$4. Ask a crab fisher how easy it is to catch crabs in their muddy habitat and whether he thinks he's being fairly compensated - the answer is like to be a firm NO. And he'd have a point. The retail price in Fortaleza, which is still only about USD$2 per crab, is 60 times what the fisher receives.

For tourists coming to our city it's essential to try the Thursday night crab feast at least once - it's an important part of local gastronomy. Leaving Fortaleza without eating Caranguejo-Uçá is as heinous a gastronomic crime as leaving New Orleans without eating a Po' Boy sandwich, Naples without sampling pizza in the land of its birth or Vancouver not having indulged in wild Pacific sockeye salmon. Don't do it!

RECIPE - Braised Kid (Cabrito ao Molho)

No, the kid in the title of this post does NOT refer to one's own offspring, but rather to the meat of a young goat. (Which reminds me of a amusing true story about a Brazilian friend of mine, who doesn't speak much English and who visited the USA last year. While there, he went into a McDonald's and shocked the attendant by mis-ordering - instead of a grilled chicken sandwich, he told her he'd like to order "one grilled children, please.")

This recipe, which calls for braising small pieces of goat meat (cabrito) in a tomato- and coconut milk-based sauce, comes from the northeastern Brazilian state of Piauí. Traditionally the poorest of all the states of Brazil and among those with the hottest, driest climatic conditions, Piauí has a long history of capriculture - the raising of domesticated goats. It also is famous for its traditional dishes made with products of this animal, dishes such as this one, and the famous (or infamous) buchada, a Brazilian relative of the haggis made by stuffing a goat's stomach with various goat innards.

This braised-kid dish is much less of a cultural challenge than is buchada, and would be a good introduction to goat meat for those not familiar with it. As mentioned in the previous post, goat meat is becoming increasingly available in North America and Europe, and is well-worth adding to your culinary repertoire due to its nutritional and health values.
___________________________________________________
RECIPE - Braised Kid (Cabrito ao Molho)
Serves 6

4 lbs (2 kgs) goat or kid meat, cut into small pieces, bone-in
juice of 2 fresh limes
salt and pepper to taste
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp powdered cumin
1/2 cup tomato paste
5 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cups (1 liter) water
1/4 cup chopped green onions, green part only
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup coconut milk
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Put the pieces of goat meat in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the lime juice over the pieces, tossing them with a wooden spoon to mix thoroughly. Pour enough boiling water over the meat to cover, let stand for 5 minutes, then drain the meatand return it to the mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then add the garlic, cumin and tomato paste. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Reserve.

In a large heavy saucepan, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat. Add the chopped onions and green pepper and cook until the onions are lightly golden. Add the reserved goat meat and continue cooking until the meat has taken on color. Pour over the 4 cups water, bring quickly to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cook, with the pan partially covered, for 45-60 minutes, checking from time to time to make sure the dish isn't drying out. If it is, add additional boiling water. When the meat is tender and the sauce thickened, add the coconut milk, cook for about one more minute until the coconut milk is heated, then remove from heat and place into a large serving bowl or on a platter. Sprinkle with the chopped green onions and cilantro and serve immediately. Accompany with plain white rice or mashed potatoes.

Recipe translated and adapted from Cozinha Regional Brasileira by Abril Editora.

Green Crab Iniative - Selo Caranguejo Verde

Last year, Flavors of Brazil wrote about the Thursday-night-ritual crab fest here in Fortaleza, my Brazilian home town. Every Thursday night here in Fortaleza, many thousands of locals and tourists head to outdoor bars and restaurants along the city's seafront and beaches and eat many more thousands of crabs. (Click here for more on Fortaleza's Thursday night crab fest).

Although the crabs become dinner here in Fortaleza, they are not harvested locally. Rather, 95% of the crabs eaten in Fortaleza, according to a recent article in the Jornal do Brasil, come from the neighboring states of Piauí and Maranhão - specifically from the mangrove swamps in the delta of the Parnaíba River, the only river delta in the Americas that terminates in the open ocean. There has recently been a lot of concern about the long-term sustainability of that crab fishery, an important source of income for inhabitants of the region.

Recently an awareness and certification campaign called "Selo Caranguejo Verde" was announced in Fortaleza, thanks to the efforts of Jefferson Legal, a fisheries researcher for EMBRAPA, the Brazilian national agriculture and pisciculture organization, in cooperation with Bernard Twardy, executive chef of the Beach Park Hotel, just outside Fortaleza. This initiative is aimed at raising public awareness of the sustainability issues involved with the crab fishery, and at promoting the sale of sustainable, or "green", crabs in Fortaleza's bars and restaurants.


The iniative has a two-pronged approach. First, making the dining public aware of what makes a crab "green", and second, providing those restaurants that only source sustainable crabs with a seal of certification that they can post on walls, menus and in advertisement. The hope is that the public will begin to favor those restaurants that serve green crabs, which will help ensure the long-term sustainability of the crab fishery.


Sr. Legal developed a protocol and a technique for the capture, handling, storage, and transport of crabs that he says will reduce the mortality rate of the harvest from the current 25-55% to a much more sustainable 5%. After extensive testing, Legal developed a system of stocking and transporting the crabs, without binding their claws, in large plastic containers. In these containers, the crabs are laid between sheets of foam rubber which has been moistened with water from their usual habitat, the mangrove swamps of the river delta. Protected by the foam rubber, and kept moist by the water, the survival rate of crabs improves enormously.

Each year a thousand tons of crabs, about 6 million individual crabs, make their way to market in Fortaleza, and the crab fishery which furnishes them provides the primary source of income to almost 5000 people in Piauí and Maranhão. If the Green Crab Initiative can help to make this fishery sustainable in the long run, it will not only preserve crab stocks and aid the economy in the areas in which the crabs are harvested, it will ensure the continued existence of Fortaleza's Thursday night crab fest.

RECIPE - Mashed Sweet Potatoes (Purê de Batata-doce)

This simple recipe for mashed sweet potatoes, made more interesting with the addition of green apple, onions and spices, comes from the northeastern Brazilian state of Piauí. It can be made with either white-fleshed or yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes. I've made it with the white-fleshed variety, which is all that is available in my local markets here in Fortaleza, but I'm sure it would be delicious with the yellow-fleshed type as well. It's great with roast chicken or pot-roasts of beef. Since sweet potato is so nutritious, serving it alongside a protein, then adding a green salad, is all that's needed for a quick, well-balanced meal.
___________________________________________________
RECIPE - Mashed Sweet Potatoes (Purê de Batata-doce)
Serves 4

2 lbs (1 kg) sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium green apple, peeled and cubed
3 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground ginger
3 Tbsp. whipping cream
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boil the sweet potatoes in plenty of water until they are very tender. In another small pan, do the same with the apple cubes - they will take much less time. While they are cooking, melt the butter in a small frying pan, add the onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and transparent but not browned. Reserve.

Drain both the sweet potatoes and the apple, combine them in a large bowl, and mash them, by hand or with a mixer, until they are fluffy and light. Add to the mashed sweet potatoes, then stir in the nutmeg and ginger. Finally, add the cream, and stir until you have a homogenous mixture.

Serve immediately.


Recipe translated and adapted from Cozinha Regional Brazileira by Abril Editora