Caldeirada

Name: Caldeirada
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Portuguese (coastal)
Ingredients: 800 g Mixed firm fish; 300 g Clams or mussels; 500 g Waxy potatoes, sliced thick; 2 Onions, sliced; 2 Green and red peppers, sliced; 3 Ripe tomatoes, sliced; 3 Garlic cloves; 100 ml Dry white wine; 5 tbsp Olive oil; 1 bay + 1 tsp Bay leaf and sweet paprika; Fresh coriander or parsley; Salt

El puchero del pescador: la captura del día colocada en capas sobre patata, cebolla, pimiento y tomate, cocida al vapor en su propio jugo — un guiso que se monta en la olla y nunca se remueve.

Fuente

Receta de Portuguese coastal kitchens · 🏺 Tradicional · The Atlantic fishing communities down Portugal's long coast — the source of the country's seafood rice, fish stews and grilled sardines

Portuguese (coastal) · traditional dish — An ownerless traditional dish, so no cook is credited. The cited article defines caldeirada as a Portuguese (and Galician) fishermen's fish stew of many kinds of fish and potatoes — 'a fish muddle that varies from town to town and depends on what the fishermen have managed to catch' — typically a fifty-fifty mix of lean and oily fish with shellfish, plus potatoes, onions, peppers and tomatoes. It confirms the colonial-crossroads points used here: that caldeirada is similar to bouillabaisse, kakavia, zarzuela and cacciucco, and that it is also cooked in Brazil, a former Portuguese colony. Quantities and method here are this book's own.

Background on Wikipedia ↗

Watch it being made · 3 videos

Gastro Portugal Suzy Turner Celia Rego

⏱ 60 min🍽 4 porciones🔥 400 kcal🇵🇹 Portugal

PescetarianoSin lácteosSin glutenSin frutos secos

Pasos

Choose a wide, heavy pot. Pour in the olive oil and start with a layer of sliced onion, garlic and peppers across the bottom.
Build it up in layers, never mixing: a layer of potatoes, then some tomato, a scatter of coriander, a little salt and paprika, then the fish, then more vegetables — finishing with tomatoes and onion on top.
💡 The order matters: potatoes and onions on the bottom where the heat is, delicate fish in the middle so it steams rather than fries. This is a layered pot, not a stirred one.
Tuck in the bay leaf, pour the wine and a splash of water down the side, and drizzle the last of the olive oil over the top. Cover with a tight lid.
Cook over low-medium heat, lid on, for about 30 minutes — do not stir. Instead, now and then shake the whole pot gently or spoon the juices from the bottom back over the top.
💡 Stirring breaks the fish into shreds. Shaking the pot moves the juices without wrecking the layers — that is the whole technique of a caldeirada.
In the last 5 minutes, lay the clams or mussels on top, cover again, and cook until they open and the fish is just done. Discard any that stay shut.
Scatter the remaining coriander over and bring the pot to the table. Serve in shallow bowls with plenty of crusty bread to soak up the broth.

💡 Consejos

Caldeirada is deliberately whatever-you-have — the fishermen's rule is a mix of lean and oily fish and no fixed list. Use firm fish that will not collapse, and do not fuss over exact varieties.
It sits in a whole family of coastal fish stews — the French bouillabaisse, Italian cacciucco, Spanish zarzuela — and it also travelled: a caldeirada is cooked in Brazil, a former Portuguese colony, as a fragrant chowder of river fish and coriander.