Congratulations Ubatuba – Navy Blue

The caiçara culinary culture has many influences from the Portuguese settlers, but it conserves enough of its indigenous habits, making abundant use of hunting, fishing, cassava, yams, sweet potatoes … An inheritance of the tamoios that inhabited this region. From the union of these cultures, sugarcane cachaça was born, the fish and farofas with banana and a singular poem of the revolutionary poet Oswald de Andrade, called Reliquary:

“… What flour of Suruí
Pinga de Parati
Baependi’s smoke
It’s coma baby pitá and I fell. “

One of the most symbolic dishes of caiçara gastronomy is undoubtedly Azul Marinho, fish cooked with green nanica banana with many regional seasonings. Many local restaurants serve it and try to leave it as close to the original, as it preserves the caiçara culture and is one of the most popular dishes for tourists, especially foreigners.

I believe there are many recipes and tips on various sites and books, but such good food and so well known, deserves attention, especially on this date so dear to all who live and enjoy the beauties of this beautiful city that is Ubatuba.

The fish most used in this dish are grouper, whiting, mackerel, anchovies and mullet. They show some variations in composition, depending on the region in which it is made, with or without tomato for example. A “requirement” known to all, is that the preparation is in iron pot, to enhance the blue color of the broth, which turns blue due to the tannin released by the green banana when cooking. All these are historical facts that have crossed the generations and today they present themselves to us in this way, but I believe that some information may have been lost, so if anyone knows more details that are not in this matter, send us, it will be a pleasure to publish such information .

Navy Blue

Ingredients:

– 6 green bananas
– 10 fresh coriander leaves (large)
– 500g cherry tomato
– 2 lemons clove
– Cassava flour to taste
– 1 kg of fish of your choice.

Method of preparation:

Peel the bananas, wash and put to cook for about 15 minutes, in the iron pan with the coriander cut into large pieces and the whole tomatinhos, in boiling water (a quantity that covers the bananas). When the bananas are tender, add the fish, previously seasoned to taste. Let it cook for another 15 minutes and make sure the fish is cooked. If it is cooked, take 2 whole bananas from inside the pan, put on a dish and knead well, add a quantity of cassava flour and broth from the pan to form a creamy mass, very close to the pyramid. Serve with a put of cooked fish on top and you like the lemon clove.

Enjoy your food !

Written matter for the Jornal A Cidade Ubatuba