Bobó de Camarão

Bahia, Brazil (Yoruba-Tupi-African culinary synthesis)

Bobó de camarão is Bahia's creamy shrimp stew — large prawns cooked in a thick, golden purée of cassava (mandioca), coconut milk, dendê palm oil, and aromatics (onion, garlic, tomato, coriander, and ginger). It is the Afro-Brazilian synthesis of Yoruba cariru (okra-based stew) with the cassava of the indigenous Tupi tradition and the coconut milk of West African cooking. The cassava is first boiled until tender, then mashed or blended into the coconut milk to create the thick, starchy base that makes bobó de camarão both a stew and a grain preparation simultaneously. The prawns are added at the very end and cooked for no more than 3 minutes — the creamy base provides all the heat and flavour they need.

• The cassava-coconut milk base mirrors the starchy-rich structure of West African groundnut soup and Southern African sadza-based fish preparations; the prawn-in-creamy-starch base parallels Thai red curry with coconut milk in its starch-thickened coconut sauce structure.

White rice alongside absorbs the creamy sauce; dendê's distinctive aroma is the dominant sensory experience; cold Brahma or Itaipava lager provides the refreshing contrast to the dendê richness.