by Chef Miguel Borgeth dos Santos – in reference to cooking with fish

I chose to present this dish because it is very affective for me. The smell of the fish stew makes me travel to my childhood. My grandmother always made this dish on Sundays using a huge clay pot and cooked the mush in a huge iron pot.
I learned a lot to cook with her. We helped to treat the shrimp – we took off our heads to make the broth and the mush. What I changed in my grandmother’s recipe is that I flambé the shrimp in the cachaça at the end.
I like to use the coriander of the kingdom or coriander – native here in the Atlantic Forest. This recipe can be made with any fish, fresh or salt water.
I make this recipe for my daughters – I cook on the wood stove in my house, trying to replicate what I experienced in my childhood.

CAIÇARA FISH
Ingredients:
● 1,200 kg of mackerel in slices and 500 grams of yellow hake fillet (seasonal fish)
● 800 grams shrimp (400 grs with shell and 400 grs without shell)
● ½ packet of chopped cilantro
● beaten garlic (beat three cloves of garlic in the blender, water until the garlic is covered,
two tablespoons of oil and a coffee spoon of salt)
● 1 medium onion cut into small cubes
● ½ bunch chives cut in very thin slices.
● dark black pepper to taste
● 2 shallow tablespoons of paprika
● 800 ml shrimp broth
● 1.5 liter tomato sauce
● salt to taste
Preparation mode:
Season the fish and shrimp with salt, beaten garlic and black pepper to taste and reserve.
Heat the pan, add olive oil or soy oil, the onion and sauté well, then put half the tomato sauce, boil for two minutes, put the fish slices, half the coriander and the paprika, then the broth of shrimp and boil for 10 minutes.
Put the rest of the tomato sauce and the hake fillets, boil for 5 minutes, add the shelled shrimp and the rest of the cilantro, cover the pan and boil for another 5 minutes.
In a frying pan put a little oil and let it heat up well, grill all the shrimp with shell, if you prefer to flambé with cachaça of your choice and reserve.
Turn off the heat of the fish, add all the grilled shrimp on top and finish with chives, serve next.

PIRÃO
● 1.5 liters of strained fish stock
● 2 cups of thick cassava flour
● salt to taste
● 3 shells of Peixada broth (ready-made)
Preparation mode:
Bring the fish stock to a boil and add the fish stock, gradually add the manioc flour, always stirring, as soon as it thickens, turn it off and serve.

FISH SOUP
● fish carcass and head (whichever one is)
● 2 small celery stalks
● ½ medium onion
● water
Preparation mode:
Place everything in a pan, cover with 1.5 liters of water and boil for 20 minutes, turn off the heat and set aside.

SHRIMP BROTH
● Shrimp shell (whatever)
● 1 small carrot cut in half
● 1 medium onion cut in half with peel
● water
Preparation mode:
● place everything in a pan, cover with 800 ml of water and boil for 15 minutes, turn off the heat and set aside.

TOMATO SAUCE
● 800 grams ripe Italian tomato with peel and seed
● 1 large onion cut in half
● water
Preparation mode:
Place the tomato and onion in a pan, add the water to half the height of the tomato, put a lid on the pan and boil until the tomatoes are soft, then beat in a blender and set aside.

*Miguel is the chef of Hotel Sesc Bertioga,has travelled Food Safaris to the Pantanal on 2018.