Photos: Passport & Plate - Pargo Rosa con Leche de Tigre

the_seeker — Thu, 5 Mar 2015 20:27:00 GMT

Ingredients
1 Grapefruit (juice)
2 Limes (zest and juice)
1 Orange (juice)
1 Serrano chili (cleaned and seeded)
3 Fresno chilies (cleaned and seeded)
1 Sweet red onion
1 Avocado
1 Yellow bell pepper
1 Meaty tomato (brandywine heirloom is an excellent choice)
1 Whole Pargo Rosa (red snapper)
Coarse salt
1/2 Turmeric root
1/2 Ginger root
3 Cloves of garlic
Fresh, crisp cilantro. In Costa Rica long-leaf, wild cilantro is common and is called "culantro coyote". This is Eryngium foetidum, and it's different from the north American and European coriandrum sativum.
Bit of coconut milk
Ice
Small corn tortillas
Oil for frying (canola)

How to prepare this recipe
Preparing the fish:
Choose a fish with clear eyes, supple flesh, bright gills, and the smell of the ocean. Carefully fillet the fish and skin the fillets, then remove the pinbones from the fillets (I use needle-nose pliers for this task). Take a metal spoon with a rough edges and scrape away the remaining flesh from the bones, tail, and head. Save these scraps. Place all scraps on butcher paper on ice to keep them cold during the remaining preparation.

To make the Leche de Tigre:
Chop the ginger, turmeric, a handful of onion, garlic cloves, 2 fresno chilies, half the serrano chili. Place these ingredients in a bowl. Combine the fruit juices. Pick a handful of clean cilantro leaves. Add the fish scraps and coconut milk to blender to form the "leche" base, then add the other ingredients, except the cilantro. Puree until smooth, add a three-finger pinch of salt, then add the cilantro for the last few seconds. Taste and adjust.

Cut the fillets into bitesize chunks. To "cook" the ceviche, place the fish and the leche de tigre into a nonreactive bowl and mix gently to coat the fish. The strong acid of the citrus acts on the proteins of the fish breaking bonds and causing them to unwind, much like heat does, creating the cooked texture. Leave in the refrigerator for 15 minutes while the food science happens.

Very finely dice some onion, yellow bell pepper, the remaining chilies, tomato, and avocado and set aside. Fry a few tortillas in a large, heavy pan in enough oil for them to be submerged. Place onto paper towels to dry and sprinkle with coarse salt while still hot.

Before the tortillas cool, casually place a spoonful of ceviche onto the center, sprinkle the vegetables and avocado on the fish and top with some whole cilantro leaves.

The story behind this recipe
For 6 months I did a work exchange at a lodge and restaurant in Dominicalito, Putarenas, Costa Rica. Every morning I would surf and every evening I would cook with the chef, old man Bert, for the guests. Old man Bert was the chef and owner of a seafood restaurant in St. Croix for many years. Each night was a new lesson in the kitchen. One week Bert's truck broke, so would rode the horses all the way down the mountain with coolers and ice to the fisherman's shack to buy our fish for the evening. We purchased fresh pargo rosa (local red snapper) and macarela (king mackerel), loaded up our coolers and turned back toward the mountain. It was still very hot, but finally the sun was nearing the horizon as our horses carried us upward. Old man Bert taught me how to make this ceviche, which calls upon the Peruvian ceviche tradition of "leche de tigre." He deftly cleaned the fish with inspiringly confident hands, and instructed me to prepare the vegetables meanwhile, creating this elegant yet simple dish in the short time before sunset. When I bit into it, I experienced the juxtaposed sensations of warm and cool, fire and water, crisp and soft, salty and sweet and tangy. The textures and complex flavors layered perfectly, ending a remarkable day. We all sat by a long table on the deck, perched high on the mountainside by the sea. No one spoke for a few minutes, just slowly eating, contemplating, looking out over the jungle and the sea. The guests, old Bert, and I were all from different places and times but at that moment, it mattered only that we were present there together. From our lookout we could see both of Costa Rica's peninsulas and, as the sun set and we ate, I swear I could see the way the earth curved at the horizon. I felt a tremendous connection to those people, that time, and place.

Passport & Plate - Pescado frito entero

the_seeker — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 18:22:31 GMT

Ingredients
-Whole Snapper: In this case I’ve used a Pink Bream. Look for bright, clear, bulging eyes, clear mucus, and firm flesh. If the fish is whole with gills and guts, the gills should be bright. Fish should not smell fishy, it should smell like the sea. AVOID cloudy eyes, bruised flesh, yellowing mucus, greying flesh and gills. Your fishmonger will probably be happy to remove the viscera and the scales for you, so you don’t have to send scales flying all over your sink area or back deck…though it’s definitely been done there before.
-Fry oil, around 48 ounces depending on the depth of your pan. I used canola, but corn and peanut oil make excellent alternatives. Do not use soy or olive oil for this application.
-Coarse sea salt
-Avocado: Choose an avocado that yields to gentle pressure in the palm of your hand. Do not squeeze it or poke it with your fingertips.
-Cilantro: chop half, leave the other half bunch intact
-Ripe plantains: they won’t feel as soft as bananas because of their thicker skin, but they will turn yellow when ripe. Slice on a bias for more surface area to sear.
-Chicken stock: I used a chicken stock that I premade. You may buy chicken stock from your grocery store.
-Sweet onion, large dice
-Black beans: I used calypso beans, a Caribbean heirloom variety. Buying fresh beans makes a noticeable difference in flavor. Bear in mind the cooked volume will be twice the dry volume. Rinse, then leave to soak in twice as much water by volume for 8-24 hours. Drain the soak water before cooking, as it contains much of the discomfort-causing starches for which beans are so notorious.
-Garlic, finely minced
-Long grain rice, rinsed in a colander
-Water
-Coconut milk
-Dried arbol chilies. You may remove the seeds if you want to make it less spicy, but I don’t do that.
-Lemon
-Lime
-Orange or, better yet, mandarina for greater authenticity
-Red jalapeno
-Fresh, coarsely ground black pepper
-All-purpose flour

How to prepare this recipe
Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add some oil, then onion. Stir occasionally. When the onions are just beginning to brown and become translucent, add the minced garlic. Cook until the garlic and onions are softened and very fragrant. Add the chicken stock to the hot pan to deglaze, then add beans and reduce heat to medium low, loosely covering. The cook time on the beans varies, so plan on cooking them for at east an hour, adding water as necessary. Prep your other vegetables: Cut the avocado in half and make vertical cuts along the length of the flesh. Scoop the flesh out with a large spoon, make sure to extract the darker flesh closest to the skin, it’s the most flavorful. Slice your plantains on a bias. Mince half your cilantro. The ratio of rice to cooking liquid is 2:3, i.e. 1 cup of rice to 1½ cups liquid. Of which half should be water and half should be coconut milk. Add just a two-finger pinch of salt to the rice. The rice should be sweet, with the salt should coming primarily from the fish. For the fish, dry thoroughly with towels. Make several incisions in the thickest part of the flesh seasoning penetration, even cooking, and protein contraction. Dust fish with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour. Stuff the organ cavity with whole cilantro and citrus wheels. Temper fish at room temp for 10 minutes before frying. Heat enough oil to cover fish in a saucepan over medium heat, until just barely smoking. Slip fish gently into the oil head-first. Add the Jalapeno. Fry each side for about 5 minutes until crispy and cooked. Heat a sauté pan on high heat. Add oil, then plantains. Do not overcrowd the pan. Flip after a minute or two. Place fish upright on paper towels to drain and plantains also on towels. Salt the beans to taste. Garnish with chopped cilantro, citrus, avocado half. Squeeze different kinds of citrus on each bite. Feel free to eat with your hands. The cheeks are the bet part, I think. Eat an eyeball, it’s a novel texture.

The story behind this recipe
A friend called me one day with an idea: we ought to buy a cheap sailboat, fix it, learn to sail, then set out from Florida and spend our days fishing, diving, and exploring the Caribbean. A few weeks later we bought an aging but sturdy boat from craigslist. It took three of us ten months to prepare the boat and ourselves. Meanwhile I got a job at a restaurant to save money and it quickly became clear that cooking professionally was something I enjoyed and could do well. Spearfishing fed us well during the trip and led to magnificent culinary experiences. We traded with some Haitians our grilled grouper fillets for their barracuda fried rice. We spearfished with the locals in Boston Bay, Jamaica and they taught us their way of cooking small fish over a fire and the secret to jerk spice. We sailed to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Providencia, and to Panama’s Bocas archipelago. We had countless, wonderful learning experiences in different cultures with people from diverse backgrounds and values.
Leaving Jamaica, we were concerned about avoiding a storm system coming off mainland Colombia. After consulting only a chart, we decided to sail to Providencia before turning south-southwest to Panama. As we approached the island, we found a mountain rising out of the Caribbean sea, ringed with aquamarine reefs. Immediately, we went ashore for solid ground, fresh food, and cold beers. We found a small seafood shack with picnic tables and Pangas anchored along the beach. Close friends, the three of us shared the Pescado frito entero and the mixed seafood platter for two (lobster on the half shell, small snapper, black land crab), eating communally and by hand. The whole fried fish reflected perfectly the island’s mixture of Colombian, Caribbean and Creole populace and heritage. Satisfied, we reflected at the table about the passage across the Caribbean in our old boat and discussed the best way to clear Colombian maritime customs…but that’s a story for another time.

Adventures in the tropics

Photos: Passport & Plate - Pargo Rosa con Leche de Tigre

Passport & Plate - Pescado frito entero