Portuguese fish stew?

[AnneW]

Hi -- This is my first post on what looks like a great site. I'm cooking tomorrow night for a friend who lived in Portugal for many years. Does anyone know where I could find a great recipe for some sort of fish stew? Thanks for any help you could provide. Best wishes, AW

[phaelon56]

I've always enjoyed Cioppino - a garlicky fish stew that is often called "San Francisco's answer to Bouillabaise". For some reason I thought it was originally derived from a Portuguese fisherman's stew but can't seem to locate the reference to confirm that.

Epicurious.com has a short list of

Cioppino Recipes

but you might also consider making Bouillabaise itself - I made some recently using the

Recipegullet Bouillabaise recipe

It was excellent - very, very tasty.

By the way - welcome to eGullet! Nice to have you here.

[morda]

When I was in Montreal recently, I had a cataplana in a Portuguese restaurant that was out of this world. So good. phaelon56, you're right, it's very similar to a bouillabaise, but perhaps spicier.

I found this recipe on Epicurious, my usual first source, but the addition of the sorrel sounds a bit sketchy.

This one from the Food Network sounds closer to what I had, except that it had many types of seafood in addition to clams: mussels, fish, shrimp.

One thing I noticed was that the fish was very creamy and delicious. Not at all like the dry and flaky fish one normally finds in soups and stews. They probably added it only at the last minute to prevent it from overcooking. It may also have to do with the type of fish used--unfortunately, I'm not sure what it was.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

morda

Edited April 14, 2004 by morda (log)

[johnnyd]

Hi AnneW!

Cataplana is hard to pull off if you don't have the tool to make it in (usually 14" copper wok shaped deal that clamps shut). Something I made the other day that is close is a Mussel dish w/typical portuguese ingredients:

EVOOil

1/2 sliced vidalha onion

one diced chorizo sausage

one diced tomato (or half a can diced w/juice)

one or two clove garlic

one bay leaf

a sprig each oregano and thyme

1 & 1/2 cup decent WWine

2 lbs mussels

Use a stock pot with a tight lid. Get all but wine and mussels to a fragrant simmer, dump in your wine, swirl and stir, then dump in your mussels and close tight. By the time you slice up a baguette, your mussels are probably open. SHAKE POT, give it a good stir, serve in pretty, deep bowls with lots of broth. If you find some "Vinho Verde" (Casal or Almeida is only $6 up here in NewEng.) you'll be a hero.

I found a very involved website with a Caldeirada recipe:

http://www.honestcuisine.com/archives/cooking/000668.html

...but your friend, who is no doubt familiar with the simple approach to fresh ingredients the Portuguese are fond of, might prefer the mussels.

Your Call

[phaelon56]

I don't typically have have access to the types of fish that are often recommended for a classic bouillabaise but I have adopted the recommended practice of mixing firm fleshed and soft fleshed fish. I often have both scallops and cleaned, cooked shrimp in my freezer that are used as well (one of our local grocery chain freezes those items when a "sale" ends and offers them really cheap in two pound bags.

It's worth checking your local seafood market to see if they sell frozen fish stock. I discovered that my best local fish vendor does this and it's great stuff - very concentrated and only $1.15 for a decent size container (16 oz I think). A crucial step is to avoid overcooking the fish. I throw in the firmer fleshed fish, a minute or two later the softer fleshed fish, follow with the scallops and then add the cooked shrimp at the last miinute. None of the fish cooks for more than five minutes or so. Using the fish stock assures me of rich flavor and adding the fish at the last minute yields a delicate texture - the fish is just cooked and not at all dried out.

[Susan G]

It's worth checking your local seafood market to see if they sell frozen fish stock. I discovered that my best local fish vendor does this and it's great stuff - very concentrated and only $1.15 for a decent size.

Oohh - that's a great idea! I'll check if mine does that!

[AnneW]

Thank you all so much!!! I'll let you know what I end up with . . . I really appreciate the replies. Best wishes, Anne