Cataplana: the copper clam pot technique
Algarve, Portugal
The cataplana is a copper hinged cooking vessel from the Algarve — two clam-shaped copper halves that clamp together hermetically and can be cooked on both sides, rotated over heat, and brought directly to the table. It is both pressure cooker and serving vessel, and the technique it enables — sealing aromatics, seafood, and wine in the shell and steaming from all sides — produces a dish impossible to replicate in any other vessel.
The cataplana amêijoas (clams with chouriço, peppers, onion, white wine, and parsley) is the Algarve's signature preparation and among the most brilliant examples of simplicity in Iberian cooking. The sealed shell traps the steam from the wine and the shellfish liquor — nothing is lost.