CATAPLANA! A DELICIOUS ANCIENT TRADITION

 Cataplana: Vessel and Ingredients for recipe

I've been waiting for some nice littleneck clams to show up at the market so I could make Cataplana. At last I found some from Cherrystone Creek, VA and there were some fresh Florida Pink Shrimp available too. So Cataplana is on the menu!


Cataplana, a recipe, a vessel, a cult object, an ancient tradition in Southern Portugal, the Algarve. The word itself is not Portuguese and of uncertain origin, but generally attributed to the Arabs.  Portuguese cuisine, and especially that of the Algarve is influenced by the Romans and the Arabs, and this, of course includes the cultural influences of the contributing nations. The Arabs were adept in alchemy (the distillation of al-chohol) and metallurgy. The Cataplana cooking vessel is a double hinged clamshell shaped vessel of hammered copper. It has been described as a "double wok", and can be used as a wok when open and a steamer, pressure cooker when closed.  It keeps seafood moist and the flavor and aroma intense. The vapors reach the top half and cycle back to the base! When the Cataplana is opened at serving time, the sight and scent delight!

The Cataplana is uniquely Algarve and traditionally used to cook seafood, more specifically Ameijoas na Cataplana, Clams in a Cataplana. That said, last month in Vilamoura in the Algarve there was a festival of Cataplana cooking using the vessel for cooking, steaming, baking and much more. Chef Bertilio Gomes said of "The Cataplana Experience", "top chefs give new life to this old traditional pan" and referred to it as a "cult object"!

I have a Cataplana!! (purchased in Albufeira) And I love it and the clam recipe. I've shared it in my cooking class, "Threads of Gold" and with my family and friends for years.

Having had the dish in Portugal, I am always trying to recreate it as it was...nearly impossible due to the phenomenon the French call "terroir", things grown and natural to a certain area or environment. Portuguese clams and seafood are an example: tiny Mediterranean clams the size of a fingernail, sweet and succulent; olive oil, Portuguese olive oil, while not the finest in the world is the FRUITIEST and has a distinctive flavor which cannot be imitated; wine, Vinho Verde, while not Algarve it is the Portuguese wine to drink and cook with seafood, low alcohol, dry and almost fizzy; then there is the bread, Portuguese Corn Bread, dense, crusty and perfect for sopping up the garlicky, olive oil, seafood juices!


On Boston's North Shore, I was lucky to have a market, inappropriately called The New England Market. It was anything BUT New England! There I could find all of the above (except the clams were frozen, but our Mahogany clams were an ok substitute). This market was located in an ethnic neighborhood, next to a Greek Church which belonged more on a Greek isle than a Massachusetts side street. The aromas in the market were pungent, open cases of bacala, cheeses, sausages, olives, huge loaves of peasant breads and unusual pastries. Spanish, Portuguese and Greek olive oils were available as well as  some humble wines of those countries. English was rarely heard inside the store. OH, how fortunate I was..oh, how I miss it!

My Cataplana here, although delicious, could not compare. I think the olive oil was the key missing ingredient. You cannot duplicate Portuguese olive oil, but maybe Greek is a close substitute. I will try to find some and attempt the dish again.

Some cataplana ingredients and the vessel

The only things organic from SunCoast in this recipe are the garlic, the onion and the wonderfully fragrant cilantro, but their bright flavors helped compensate for the lack of Portuguese oil.

AMEIJOAS NA CATAPLANA

3 Tablespoons Portuguese or very fruity extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 pound Portuguese Chourico (or other garlic sausage or linguica), sliced

2 pounds Mahogany or Little Neck clams, fresh and local

1/2 pound fresh, local shrimp (optional)

1 cup dry white wine (vinho verde)

chopped cilantro or parsley

1 teaspoon Piri Piri saucae or hot sauce to taste

Rinse and clean the clams.

Heat oil in cataplana or dutch oven. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened. Stir in sausage, the shrimp if using.  Add wine and let evaporate for a few minutes. Add clams and close cover. Cook over high heat for 5 - 8 minutes or until clams open. Add Piri Piri and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.  Serve from the cataplana (in the restaurant each diner has his own cataplana!) with plenty of crusty bread for sopping up the juices.

Good to the last clam or slice of sausage. The pink color of the broth is due to the paprika in the sausage.

VARIATIONS:

Use 1/2 pound cubed or sliced pork loin marinated overnight in garlic, white wine, olive oil, paprika and bay leaf  in place of sausage. Drain pork and pat dry before sauteing. Marinade be added and cooked with the clams.

Some recipes use some chopped or diced tomatoes.