RECIPE - Crab in Coconut Milk (Caranguejo ao Leite de Coco)

In yesterday's post, we discussed Fortaleza's Thursday night ritual of heading out to a beach bar or casual restaurant for a crab feast. Every beach bar along Fortaleza's principal beach, Praia do Futuro, touts their own recipe as the best, but in fact, almost anywhere you go the basic recipe is the same. The recipe is so closely associated with Fortaleza and surrounding beach communities that it's sometimes called Caranguejo Cearense, meaning "Crab from Ceará" the state of which Fortaleza is the capital.

At its simplest, and most traditional, the recipe calls for cooking/steaming the crabs in a broth of rich coconut milk seasoned with garlic, onions, and tomatoes and garnished with lavish amounts of chopped cilantro. During the cooking process, the coconut milk is infused with the juices of the crabs so that when the dish is presented the aromas of the coconut milk and of briny seafood combine into a mouth-watering invitation to pick up the hammer, grab a crab and begin to smash and nosh the night away.

In Fortaleza, this recipe is made with local caranguejo-uçá crabs but can be successfully be made with whatever species of crab is available in your local market - with the possible exception of Alaska king crabs which are better suited to other treatments due to their enormous size.
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RECIPE - Crab in Coconut Milk (Caranguejo ao Leite de Coco)
Serves 4 - 8 depending on size of crabs

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups (500 ml) coconut milk
1 tsp. annatto powder or oil (can substitute sweet paprika)
1 bunch cilantro, large stems removed, finely chopped
8 small crabs, thoroughly washed
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In a large saucepan with a lid, heat the olive oil, then add the garlic, tomatoes and onion and fry until the onion and garlic are softened and the tomato is breaking up. Stir in the coconut milk, the annato or paprika and half of the cilantro. Cook a few more minutes or until the tomato has completely broken up. Bring the liquid to the boiling point.

Add the crabs plus just enough water to cover them. Reduce heat, cover the pan and let the crabs cook/steam for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Put the crabs in a deep serving bowl, pour the cooking liquid over, then sprinkle the remaining cilantro over all. Serve immediately, to be eaten by hand.

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 - Rabbit in a Clay Pot (Coelho na Panela de Barro)

Brazil doesn't have a large tradition of eating rabbit, unlike some European and North American countries. It's not that rabbit as food is totally unheard of, it's just that when you ask most Brazilians if they like eating rabbit you're likely to get back a puzzled expression in return. Sort of, "Rabbit? Never really thought of that."

It's not really that Brazilians object to eating small furry beasts - in the semi-arid interior of northeastern Brazil there's a tradition of eating an animal called preá - Wikipedia translates it into English as Brazilian guinea pig. Perhaps part of the reason is that rabbits are not native to most of South America and arrived in Brazil only after the country was colonized by Europeans. To this day southern Brazil has no wild rabbit population.

However, there has been a recent increase in interest in rabbits as food - from domesticated, fared rabbits. The health benefits of rabbit meat, which is lean and low in cholesterol, appeal to 21st Century eaters around the world, and the relative ease of entry into the rabbit-farming world is appealing to would-be rabbit producers.

This recipe for rabbit cooked in a clay pot comes from the website of Coelhos Lagoa Funda, a rabbit farm in the state of Espírito Santo. This state is famed for its clay pots so it's only natural that regional dishes cooked in clay pots would be adapted to rabbits.

As with yesterday's recipe, this dish can successfully be cooked in ceramic, cast iron or other metal cookware, but according to the recipe source it is particularly delicious when cooked in clay.
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RECIPE - Rabbit in a Clay Pot (Coelho na Panela de Barro)
Serves 6

2 rabbits, cut into serving pieces
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and cubed
3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
3 medium onion, chopped
1 1/3 cup (350 ml) dry white wine
34 cup (200 ml) water
fresh rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
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Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan, then brown the pieces of rabbit on all sides. Do in two batches if necessary to avoid crowding. Reserve the browned rabbit.

In a wide deep clay pot (or other suitable piece of cookware) place the reserved pieces of rabbit, then sprinkle the chopped carrots, tomatoes and onions over. Gently pour in the white wine and water, then sprinkle the chopped rosemary.

Bring to a boil over a medium flame, then reduce heat to a slow simmer and cook for about one hour, gently stirring from time to time. If the dish begins to dry out, add more water. At the end of the cooking time, if the sauce is very liquid increase heat and boil the sauce to thicken it.

Remove from the heat and serve immediately in the clay pot. Accompany with buttered egg noodles or boiled potatoes.

RECIPE - Shrimp and Rice, Espirito Santo Style (Arroz com Camarão Capixaba)

This wonderfully flavorful dish of rice and shrimp - halfway between risotto and paella - comes from the coastal state of Espírito Santo and is a perfect examply of how Brazilian cooks make use of clay cooking pots, something we've been featuring recently on this blog.

Espírito Santo lies along Brazil's southeastern coastline, bordered on the south by Rio de Janeiro state and on the north by Bahia. The coast has miles and miles of wonderful beaches, backed by the same spectacularly beautiful granite domes and mountains that famously frame Rio de Janeiro's landscape. Because of the long coastline, Espírito Santo's gastronomy is dominated by fish and seafood and the state is famous for its unique way of making fish and seafood moquecas - highly seasoned stews. Espírito Santo and Bahia are both famous for moquecas, but each has its own tradition. Bahian moquecas use coconut milk seasoned with dendê oil to provide the base for the stew; in Espírito Santo the broth is based on coconut milk, tomatoes and onions.

Espírito Santo's coastal cuisine isn't all about moquecas though - equally loved are rich and hearty main course dishes combining rice and any number of varieties of seafood. In Portuguese these dishes are rather prosaically called simply "rice and...". For example, rice and shrimp or rice and mixed seafood. In English they'd more likely be called risotto or paella, though technically they are neither. The rice used in regular long grain, so they really aren't risottos, which require Italian short grain rice. And they aren't really paellas either as they lack the essential saffron color and flavor and never mix seafood with chicken or sausages.

What does make these rice dishes special is that they are always cooked in clay pots. In Espírito Santo there is even a particular locally-based type of clay cookware known as Goiaberas, manufactured artisanally in Vítoria, the capital of the state. (Click here to read more about this type of cookware). The pots from Goiaberas are of a perfect shape and form to make this recipe, though it can easily be made in any type of pot or pan that you normally use for stovetop cooking. The resulting dish might not have the charm and Brazilian-ness that cooking in Goiaberas wear does, but those two whom you serve it will not complain, guaranteed. It's a wonderful dish for a casual supper with guests - informal, beautiful and tasty.
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RECIPE - Shrimp and Rice, Espirito Santo Style (Arroz com Camarão  Capixaba)
Serves 4

4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp annatto, ground or paste (can substitute sweet paprika)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
9 medium tomatoes, cut into small cubes
2 medium onions, chopped, not too finely
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
salt to taste
2 lbs (1 kg) medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/3 cup green or black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
6 cups cooked long grain white rice
2 stalks hearts of palm, halved horizontally (optional)
1/2 small tomato, cut into four wedges
grated parmesan to taste
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In a large, low clay pot (or other pot or pan, like a large skillet or saucepan) heat the oil, then add the annatto or paprike and crushed garlic. Cook for a minute or two then add the chopped tomatoes, the onions, the cilantro and salt to taste. Cook for a few minutes, or until the tomato begins to break up. Add the shrimps, the coconut milk, the peas and corn and half of the olives and mix thorough. Lower the heat, cover the pot or pan and cook for ten minutes.

Uncover the pot or pan, stir in the cooked rice and continue cooking, stirring regularly, until the rice is heated through and has absorbed the liquid.

Serve at table in the cooking dish or other decorative serving dish. Garnish the surface with the tomato wedges, the palm hearts and the other half of the olives. Serve with grated parmesan on the side.

How To Season a Clay Cooking Pot

Cooking in an unglazed ceramic cooking pot is a time-honored and marvelous way to create soups, stews, grain and legume dishes, and braised-meat dishes. The thermic properties of clay, which allows for cooking a dish at low temperature over a long period of time, unattended, makes cooking in clay ideal for the cook that wants to assemble a dish then basically let it cook itself, leaving the cook free for other activities. Think of cooking in clay as the origin of the slow cooker - it only lacks electricity.

Before using a clay pot for the first time it is essential to season it. Because the clay is unglazed and therefore somewhat porous, the earthy taste of the clay itself will leach into the food if the pot is unseasoned. Once seasoned, however, you can use a clay pot without fear of the taste of clay spoiling your dish.

Seasoning a clay pot

This technique for seasoning an unglazed clay pot is adapted from from Brazilian food writer and blogger Neide Rigo and can be found on her blog Come-Se. Her seasoning process is a two-day process and begins with a twenty-four hour soaking of the pot in cold water. One the second day, she removes the pot from the water, drains it completely then fills it half-full with fresh water. She fills the pot with chunks of pork belly with its rind in the water and heats the pot slowly over low heat. She lets the water come to the boil and then continues the cooking until the water evaporates completely and the pork belly begins to fry. She continues to fry the pork belly using a silicone brush to paint the entire interior of the pot with melted fat until the pork skin becomes crispy  - fried pork rind (torresmo in Portuguese). At this point, she removes the pot from the heat, allows it to cool completely, drains it completely, wipes the interior dry, then washes the pot in hot water only. Once the pot is completely dry it's ready for its first use. (Added bonus - the pork rind, or cracklings, are delicious!)

Clay pots should be cleaned with water only - detergents can have an effect on the taste of food cooked in clay. Use hot water and if needed a plastic scouring pad to clean. It's also important to dry the pot quickly after washing to avoid musty flavors developing. In Brazil, cooks just put the pot in direct sunlight. In less tropical climes, fifteen minutes in a 150F oven will do the trick.

UTENSILS OF BRAZIL - Clay Pot (Panela de Barro)

When proto-Brazilians first learned that many foodstuffs were improved, or even simply made edible, by the application of heat, they basically used two ways to apply that heat. In the rain forests of the Amazon basin and the coastal mountains, on the savannahs of western and central Brazil and on the beaches of the the country's immense coastline, Amerindians cooked their food either by direct exposure to fire (grilling, basically) or by indirect exposure. Indirect exposure involved placing the food in some sort of fired clay container and heating the food in liquid inside the pot or pan. Even the most primitive tribes of Amerindians seem to have known the technique of firing clay to make ceramic products and to have learned that once fired, ceramics can be exposed to high levels of heat without damage. Metals were unknown to these tribes, and wood was unsuitable in the presence of fire, so without clay pots they would only have been able to grill food.

Grilling is a technique that is well suited to most meats and seafood, plus some types of vegetables. However, it is less well suited to cooking roots and tubers and other types of vegetables that constitute the basic staple foods of most cultures. In pre-Colombian South America these staples included manioc, potatoes and corn. The most common way for Amerindians to cook them was in clay pots. African slaves also brought with them their own traditions of cooking in clay when they came to Brazil.

Today there is a resurgence in the use of clay cooking pots in Brazilian cooking, even though in rural areas of the country it had never really gone out of style. In the cities of Brazil, in the kitchens of fine restaurants and in the homes of dedicated amateur cooks, there has been a rediscovery of clay cooking utensils. There is something about the way that clay transmits and retains heat that really cannot be duplicated in metal or glass - particularly in relation to heat retention. For dishes that require long cooking at low temperatures, there is nothing better than clay. This rediscovery of clay cooking utensils really is just one more case of "everything old is new again." Today in Brazil, there is nothing more ancient or more avant-garde than cooking in clay.

To buy clay pots and pans in most Brazilian cities, all one needs to do is visit the nearest market in which artisanally produced material can be purchased. There you can find pots of all sizes from miniature to mammoth and in a myriad of shapes and forms. Some are beautifully decorated with incized designs and decorative handles, others are purely utilitarian. But they all work equally well. It's also possible to buy clay pots online in Brazil for those who don't live near a market that sells them.

Clay pots need to be seasoned prior to first use, but once seasoned, they can last a lifetime if properly handled. In the next post here on Flavors of Brazil we'll teach you how to season an unglazed clay pot Brazilian-style, and then we'll highlight some Brazilian recipes which are best cooked in clay.

Food Guide to Rio de Janeiro - Downloadable

In coordination with the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which is currently wrapping up in Rio de Janeiro, Slow Food Brasil published a guide for conference-goers to the food of the city. The guide, entitled 100 Dicas/100 Tips Rio de Janeiro was published in a bi-lingual format in English and Portuguese and provided free-of-charge to participants in the global event. It is also available on Slow Food Brasil's website for download as a .PDF.

Organized by neighborhood, which makes the guide extremely user-friendly, the 129-page book covers restaurants, cafes, bars and botecos, fresh juice bars, ice cream shops, food shops and live-music venues. Emphasis is on local cuisine and local foods which is naturally for a Slow Food publication.

This guide is something that any of Flavors of Brazil's readers who one day might find themselves in Rio de Janeiro will want to download now and carry with them on their laptop or tablet when they travel to Rio. It's very informative, well-written and from what we can judge from our own experiences in Rio quite accurate.

You can download 100 Dicas/100 Tips Rio de Janeiro HERE.