Bobó de camarão recipe with Villa Maria

This post is published in partnership with Villa Maria wines

This well-known Brazilian dish has its origins in Africa. Bobó de camarão is famous in Bahian Estate, the most ‘African’ place in Brazil. It probably features great local indigenous influence, but it was brought to popular Brazilian cuisine in the 17th century. Bobó de Camarão is practically an institution of Brazilian regional gastronomy.

This dish was initially prepared with yam, but its modern incarnation has received some very Brazilian ingredients, such as cassava, shrimp, coriander, and palm oil. This recipe is surprisingly full of flavour, and it has a smooth texture. It’s a dish that evokes irreverence and joy.

The bobó is a silky purée prepared with crushed or liquefied cassava and several other ingredients and seasoned with the unctuous dendê oil. From Bahia, it has spread to the rest of Brazil, and today, it is included in the menus of star chefs.

It is one of the most requested dishes in restaurants in Bahia. It can be served as a main course or as an accompaniment. The prawn bobó is a trendy dish also in other places of Brazil, however, with some modifications. In Rio de Janeiro, it is made with olive oil and not palm oil (which is a little strong for some palates) and with optional coconut milk, another very characteristic flavour from the tropics.

There are also a few variations on the theme; for example, shredded crab, mussels, cod, and any previously sautéed seafood can be added to this recipe. A beautiful wine to pair with the Bobó de camarão is Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2017. Villa Maria, voted one of the most admired wine brands in the world for the fourth year in a row, is a New Zeland winery based in Auckland, and it was founded in 1961. This year they are also celebrating their Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc being the UK’s number one selling Sauvignon Blanc. The intense, fresh, citrus, tropical fruit flavours and herbaceous aroma of Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc match perfectly with the ever-so-colourful and appetising Bobó de camarão recipe. It is a pairing to be had any time of the year.

 

Bobó de camarão recipe

 

Serves: 4
easy

Ingredients
500g cassava
500 g of king prawns, cleaned and deveined
juice of 1 lemon
1 white onion finely chopped
50 ml olive oil
3 chopped garlic clove
1/2 chopped green bell pepper
3 ripped tomato without skin and seeds
1/2 chopped red bell pepper
150 ml of coconut cream or milk (optional)
chilli pepper to taste
a generous handful of chopped coriander
1/2 cup (tea) olive oil

Method
1. Peel the shrimps, season with salt and lemon, set aside in the fridge covered.
2. In a large pan simmer for 30 minutes the heads and the shells of the shrimps in a litre of salt water, strain the liquid and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, peel and remove the wooden core from the cassava, cook in the reserved shrimp water until very soft. In a food processor blend the cassava with the water, check for salt and reserve.
4. Sauté the shrimp (seasoned with salt and lemon) in olive oil and onion and set aside.
5. In the same pan (with the residue of olive oil and garlic), add the peppers, and the tomato without skin and saute.
6. Add the creamed cassava, simmer for about 5 minutes.
7. Finish with the sautéed prawns, olive oil, the coconut milk, the pepper and the decorate with freshly chopped coriander.

Serving suggestion: white rice

 

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