Portuguese National Fish Stew Recipe

Serves/Makes: 10 – 12

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds (1 1/2 kg) mixed fish (chose from various kinds, mackerel, swordfish, tuna, skate, sea bass, monkfish, haddock, etc.)
• 1 pound (1/2 kg) conger eel, center cut
• 1 pound (1/2 kg) hake
• 1 pound (1/2 kg) squid, cut up
• 1 pound (1/2 kg) small clams
• 1 1/2 pounds (3/4 kg) onions, sliced
• 9 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 fresh sardines
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 1 bunch of coriander
• 2 pounds (1 kg) tomatoes, peeled and sliced
• 2 pounds (1 kg) potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 pound (1/2 kg) fresh red and green pepper, cut into strips
• 1 fresh chilli pepper, finely chopped
• Salt
• Black pepper, freshly ground
• 3/4 pint (400 ml) white wine
• Tinned mild red pepper (pimiento), cut into strips for decoration

How to cook Portuguese National Fish Stew:

• Take a very large cooking pot and line the bottom with onion slices.
• Add further ingredients in layers, as follows: some of the mixed fish, some conger and squid, some parsley and coriander, tomato slices, potato slices, a sprinkling of garlic and chilli, strips of red and green pepper, hake and more mixed fish, a third of the olive oil and almost half of the wine, with occasional grindings of pepper and discreet sprinklings of salt.
• Repeat, using up all the ingredients (except what you need for the sardines and clams – see below) and finishing up with a layer of onion, a sprinkling of garlic and chilli and second doses of olive oil and wine.
• Set the pot to cook over a moderate flame for 30 minutes.
• About 12 minutes before serving, fry the sardines in 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of olive oil, with a small quantity of onion, tomato, red and green pepper, parsley and coriander.
• Six minutes later, set the clams to steam open in a pan with the remaining (2 or 3 tablespoons) wine and a dash of salt.
• When all is ready, ladle the main mixture, juices and all, into a deep serving platter.
• Put the clams, still in their shells, on top, with the strips of red pepper among them, and the sardines round the side.

Note:
The Portuguese name of this recipe is Caldeirada.

Comments:
Caldeirada is a typical Portuguese stew consisting of a large variety of fish, and sometimes shellfish, with potatoes, tomato and onion. There must be almost as many versions of this recipe as there are households on the Portuguese coast. Be flexible in the choice of fish. Conger eel helps to make the liquid pleasantly unctuous, but many cooks prefer a less bony fish. The addition of sardines, cooked separately, is optional. Their crispness provides a note of contrast, but pieces of fried bread, such as adorned a Caldeirada will do the same.

This recipe for Portuguese National Fish Stew serves/makes: 10 – 12

The Portuguese National Fish Stew Recipe adopted from the book North Atlantic Seafood.

Main Ingredient: Various Fish 
Preparation Method: Soup/Stew 
Cuisine: Portuguese