If you ever travel to Brazil and especially to Bahia you should not miss this delicacy. A perfect combination of fresh sea food with coconut milk, palm oil, herbs and vegetables.
We enjoyed our first Moqueca de Peixe, Fish Moqueca in a small sea food restaurant overlooking the bay of Arembepe. We ordered actually two versions, one with lobster and the other with fish. Always served with rice and Farofa, toasted tapioca flour and Piri Piri, a homemade chili mix to spice it up, Moqueca is cocked in a traditional clay pot in which it is also delivered simmering to your table.
You can order Moqueca with Camarão - shrimp, Pitu - a larger shrimp, Ostra - Oyster, Polvo - Octopus or Mariscada, which is a mix of sea food. Always ask the waiter what it contains.
Additional ingredients are spring onions, lime, garlic, onion, tomato, chili and coriander. If your are not a big fan of coriander, parsley is a good substitute.
The origin of this tropical stew is a mixture of Indio and African cuisine, as many Africans were brought in the country as slaves.
It's always nice to share this dish with your friends so you are able to order many varieties and taste them all. Enjoy it for lunch so the palm and coconut oil, which add richness to the dish, will make you drowse away in your hammock instead of turning you around in bed and preventing you from sleeping. Every cook and every region is preparing this stew in their own way. So there's always a new taste in the pot.
Enjoy Moqueca here:
Restaurante da Colo, Arembepe
Restaurante Sombra da Mangueira, Imbassai
Restaurante Paraiso Tropical, Salvador
Watch our Vlog here
To prepare it yourself click here
