It seems like every culture with a coastline has their version of a seafood stew. The French have
bouillabaise, the Portuguese
bacalhoada, New England
"chowdah" and San Francisco
cioppino. In Brazil, they make
moqueca (pronounced "mo-KEH-kah"), a stew made with fish, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, and in the northern state of Bahia, coconut milk. My first encounter with moqueca was a
salmon version of the stew prepared by Brazilian blogger Fernanda of
Chucrute com Salsicha. So good! We love making fish stew, but had never thought to use a base of coconut milk. Since then, every Brazilian I've met, when the conversation turns to food (as it invariably does), their eyes light up at the mention of moqueca.
