Seafood and nut purée

Name: Seafood and nut purée (Vatapá)
Cuisine: Portuguese
Ingredients: ½ loaf day-old French bread; 500 ml/17 fl oz/2¼ cups milk; 750 ml/1¼ pints/3 cups fish stock; 450 g/1 lb white fish fillets; 65 g/2½ oz dried shrimp; 75 g/3 oz/¾ cup roasted unsalted peanuts; 75 g/3 oz/¾ cup roasted cashews; 2.5 ml/½ tsp fresh root ginger, grated; 1.5 ml/¼ tsp ground nutmeg; 30 ml/2 tbsp lime juice; 15 ml/1 tbsp palm oil (dendê); 200 ml/7 fl oz/scant 1 cup coconut milk; 5 ml/1 tsp hot pepper sauce; salt and ground black pepper; salt and ground black pepper; large cooked prawns (shrimp), and lime wedges to garnish; large cooked prawns (shrimp), and lime wedges to garnish; large cooked prawns (shrimp), and lime wedges to garnish

Vatapá

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Food and Cooking of Brazil

By Fernando Farah

Published 2011

About

This is a classic dish from the Bahia region of Brazil. It can be eaten as a main course or more usually as an accompaniment; a thicker version is good as a filling for Acarajé (black-eyed bean fritters). Vatapá may have originated in Portugal, but the use of ground nuts, coconut milk and palm oil place it firmly on the Brazilian menu.

Ingredients

½ loaf day-old French bread
500 ml/17 fl oz/2¼ cups

Americas
Europe
Brazil
Portugal
Bahia
Fish course
Side dish
Pescatarian
South America

Method

1 Tear the bread in small pieces and place in a bowl. Pour over the milk and set aside to soak.

2 Meanwhile, heat the stock in a medium pan, add the fish and poach for 3-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets, until just cooked. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon and place on a board or plate. Reserve the stock. When the fish fillets are cool enough to handle, flake and