RECIPE - Sirigado Stew a la Colher de Pau

One of Fortaleza's best known restaurants for regional cuisine, Colher de Pau, is famous for its fish stew (Peixada in Portuguese) made from Black Grouper (sirigado or badejo). Colher de Pau, by the way, simply means "The Wooden Spoon", and the restaurant's food is firmly local and traditional without being slavish in its attempt to highlight the food traditions of Ceará state. Incidentally, Colher de Pau was recently named the Regional Restaurant of 2009 by the Brazilian food and culture magazine Veja Guia Fortaleza.

Although the recipe calls for sirigado, it can successfully be reproduced with any firm-textured, white-fleshed fish, such as grouper, snapper, or halibut. Fishes that flake easily, like cod, are less successful substitutes. Peixada is traditionally served with white rice, and fish pirão. Pirão is a thick gravy made from seasoned fish broth thickened with manioc flour. Plenty of hot sauce is always available for those who wish a spicier peixada.

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RECIPE - Sirigado Stew a la Colher de Pau
(Serves 2)

For the fish broth:
3cups water
1/4 pound sirigado, coarsely chopped
1 pound sirigado heads (including gills), well washed
salt to taste

For the Stew:
1 pound fillet of sirigado (or other substituted fish as above), cut into three or four large pieces
1/2 tsp. of salt
Juice of 1 lime
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup coarsely chopped white cabbage
1 medium tomato, cut in half
1 medium yellow onion, cut in half
1 medium green pepper
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 chayote, cut in half (if available), cooked
2 small boiling potatoes, peeled, cooked and cut in half
1 medium carrot, cut into large chunks, cooked
1 hard-boiled egg, peeled, but left whole
1 cup canned coconut milk
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
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Make the fish broth: Bring the water to a boil in a large pan. Add the fish, plus fish heads and gills and salt. Simmer for 15 minutes.  Drain carefully through sieve, reserve.

Season the fish fillets with salt, lime juice, and fresh-ground pepper. Cook the fillets in simmering fish broth, adding the cabbage, and continue simmering until the fish is just tender. Do not overcook. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan heat the olive oil and saute the tomato, the onion, the green pepper, the cilantro and green onion for five minutes. Stir in the fish broth, and then carefully add the fish fillets, the cooked vegetables (chayote, potatoes, carrots) and the hard-boiled egg. Stir in the tomato paste. Let simmer for five minutes, then add the coconut milk. Heat briefly, but do not boil. Serve with white rice and pirão.

Sirigado = Badejo = ????????

Fortaleza, where I live, is a paradise for lovers of fish and seafood. The local seas and shores are full of marine life, and the majority of commercial fishing is still artisanal - done by groups of two or three men sailing out to sea on small rafts, called jangadas, for up to a week at a time. Returning to land, they sell their fish at a fish market located on the shore within site of the port for these jangadas.

I'm just learning my way through the local variety of fishes, and the vocabulary for these varieties. One of my favorite fishes, perhaps my favorite, is referred to locally as either sirigado or badejo. Both names seem to be equally acceptable and equally used. The taxonomy and nomenclature of fish species is a notable linguistic problem, and those with more patience and more time than I have spent considerable time tracking down local or regional names in hundreds of languages for just one fish species. Fortunately, much of the fruit of their labors is now available online.

I've been curious what the English name for this fish is for quite a while, and after some googling today, I discovered via a site for professional translators that it is called Black Grouper in English, or less commonly Black Rockfish. This led me to the website of the Florida Museum of Natural History where I learned the following fascinating facts about this absolutely delicious (if not very pretty) fish:

• Its habitat is in the Western Atlantic Ocean, along the coasts of the Americas, and it is found from Massachusetts to the southern coast of Brazil.
• Black groupers can reach up to 52 inches (133 cm) in length and can weigh up to 179 pounds (81 kg). Most of the black grouper that are caught average a little over 2 feet in length (70 cm). They can live over 30 years, but most of the growth occurs during the first ten years of life. 
• They feed primarily on smaller reef fish, such as grunts, snappers and herrings. They also consume crustaceans.
• All Black Groupers are born female (this makes them protogynous hermaphrodites, should you care to know). Later in life some undergo a change in sex to become male, so as to allow the species to reproduce. 

Gastronomically, it is primarily the fillet of this fish that is served. It has a very white flesh, similar to the color of halibut, and the flesh can be separated into large flakes. It is very juicy when not overcooked, and it takes to all sorts of treatments and cooking techniques, from simple grilling and pay-frying to complicated saucings. It's flavor is well-developed, but not strong, and has little "fishy" flavor.

Sirigado/Badejo is highly valued here in Fortaleza, and in restaurants dishes with this fish are usually higher in price than dishes with other species. However, by North American standards it is relatively inexpensive. At the market, I buy a one kilogram (2.2 lbs) of sirigado for the equivalent of $5.00 to $8.00.