Shatara and Katiria’s Food Corner: MuQueCa

Food Corner: MuQueca Restaurant

Feature Editors:
Katiria Feliciano, 15
Shatara McDaniel, 17
Massachusetts

When you think of Brazilian food you may think of meat, but you’re in for a surprise at MuQueCa. Chef Fatima Gomes breaks down the stereotypes of Brazilian food by sharing the cultural traditions of her kitchen. Her style is unique, inspired by her hometown in Brazil, and her cooking truly comes from the heart.

Close-up with Fatima Langa Gomes

Name: Fatima Langa Gomes
Restaurant: MuQueCa, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Education: In her kitchen with her mother
Position: owner and chef

Why did you decide to name the restaurant MuQueCa? What does it mean?
Moqueca is the name of the dish in my town. The dish is a little different from the name of the restaurant. The dish is spelled “m-o” and the name of the restaurant is “m-u”. We named the restaurant the name of the dish because it is the typical plate from my town in Brazil. You can not make moqueca with chicken or with beef. You can just make moqueca with seafood, fish, or you can make vegetarian moqueca. We have a lot of vegetarian dishes. And in my town it’s very normal to serve amariscada, which is a moqueca with seafood. It’s served with a little moqueca of plantains*. I make a vegetarian moqueca with tofu and plantains for whoever doesn’t eat or can’t eat fish. Moqueca is a style of cooking the fish in a clay pot. We have a neighborhood in my town where the families all make the clay pots. Most of our food is cooked in clay pots, even here in the restaurant. I brought them here from my hometown.

Where did you grow up? Can you talk about your home town?
I grew up in Espíritu Santo on the southeast coast of Brazil. So that’s why the restaurant is typical of my hometown, because there we eat seafood a lot. We have a lot of markets so we can buy fresh fish and seafood.

Where did you do your culinary training?
I learned with my mom. Since I was little in Brazil, I loved to be in the kitchen with my mom. She was a great cook. She learned how to cook with a professional and then she taught me from when I was little. To help her make her dough, I’d put in the eggs and the flour. That’s the way it started out. We have a big family in Brazil, so every Sunday everybody was there and I helped my mom, so I got used to it. And I used to live in New York and studied at the Brooklyn College. I didn’t graduate because we decided to open the restaurant.

What are the typical foods that people eat in Brazil?
The national dish in Brazil is called feijoada. Every state has feijoada, which is a black bean soup. We cook the black beans with pork, sausage, fried beef, and bacon. We cook this and serve it with rice, collard greens, plantains, and oranges. The orange is used for better digestion.

How does it feel to own your own business as a woman? How does it feel to be a female chef?
First of all, everything that you like to do, everything that you do because of your passion—like mine to cook—everything that you do because you like it is so good. I like to be a restaurant owner. And most of all I like to be a chef in my own kitchen, so I can cook in my own style. Into every dish I put my love, my care. I think that’s the main reason for the success of my restaurant. I always tell my sous chef*, “Don’t serve my customers whatever you won’t eat. If you like to eat it that means that they are going to love to eat it. So, if you’re cooking something that is not cooked enough or not good enough, don’t serve it.” That’s the main thing.

Have you ever felt discriminated against?
Well, here no. I think that here in the United States, especially in Cambridge, women are not discriminated against much, especially in the kitchen. Of course, if you go looking for a job, most restaurants prefer men in the kitchen. In the beginning, even I liked to have a cook who was a man instead of a woman. But this is not because of discrimination. It’s sometimes because you have to carry heavy stuff. But now I think I am a strong woman. Even though I’m so small, I’m strong. I can carry heavy stuff. And then I decided to have women in the kitchen. Actually, one day I said, I’m going to have just women inside my kitchen because when we get together it will be like a club.

What are your favorite ingredients to use? What are your favorite dishes to cook?
My favorite ingredient is cilantro. Moqueca without cilantro is not a good moqueca. I don’t think I have one favorite dish to cook. I love to cook everything, but I love to make my moqueca and my seafood pie. Seafood pie is another typical dish from my town, but they only serve the seafood pie there around Easter time. So if you go to my town any month that is not close to Easter, you will never see seafood pie. But here in the restaurant, because I want to cook all the dishes that are typical from my town, I have the seafood pie every day.

Where do you get your ideas for your recipes?
Well, I get ideas from my town. I grew up with this kind of food. Here I create different types of sauce. When you know how to cook and you look at the ingredients on the table, it’s beautiful when you start to imagine what goes with what. You can feel the flavor up there on your tongue. And then I start to mix things, and, of course, sometimes it doesn’t go right. But doing that, I created two sauces that everybody loves: the passion fruit sauce that I serve with calamari*, and another sauce that I serve with yuca*.

Why are clay pots used in this style of cooking?
This is a tradition in my town. We like to use the clay pots because it’s a natural way of cooking. It keeps the flavor. And also, if you bring it to table it is still boiling. And when you finish eating the food is still hot. For example, I hate cold food. I don’t like to eat my food cold.

Is there anything else you would want us to know about Brazil or Brazilian food?
I want you to try my food and see for yourself! I just want to say that Brazilian food is not just meat and not just buffet-style. We can serve in different styles and we have a lot of options, especially with seafood and vegetarian dishes.

Can you tell us a fun fact about yourself our readers might enjoy?
One day this American gentleman came and it was the first time that he had experienced Brazilian food. I went to his table and asked him if he liked it. And he said, “If one day I’m going to be on my death bed and they ask me what kind of food I want for my last meal, I am going to ask for moqueca.” I felt so proud. That makes my year, not just my day.

*Sous chef: in the restaurant kitchen, a sous chef is the direct assistant of the executive chef.
*Plantains: a fruit comparable to a banana, but more firm and lower in sugar.
*Calamari: the Italian name for squid.
*Yuca: a vegetable that is similar to a potato.

A Recipe from Fatima: Moqueca Capixaba

4 lb. fresh fish fillets (sea bass, haddock, cod)
4 bunches cilantro, chopped
2 bunches scallions, chopped
2 medium onions, minced
3 lbs. chopped ripe tomatoes
olive oil
salt to taste
dash of hot pepper
1 lemon, freshly juiced

Clean the fish and cut into the serving size you want. In a bowl with salt and lemon juice, marinate the fish for about one hour. In large heavy pot (better in a clay pot), put olive oil. Prepare a mixture of onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and scallions, all cut in small cubes. Pour half of the mixture into the pot. Lay the fish on top and then cover with the second half of the mixture. Bring to a simmer on low heat and cover the pot. Cook for 10 minutes. Serve the moqueca with white rice and dare to use a good Brazilian hot pepper sauce!

Learning the Lingo: Basic Portuguese

Queres apprender de falar Portuguêse? Want to learn how to speak Portuguese? Read below and impress the chef if you’re ever in a Brazilian restaurant!

Hello: olá, oi
How are you: como está?
I would like: gostava de
Please: por favor
Thank you very much: muito obrigado
That was delicious: muito bom
Goodbye: adeus
Until later: até logo

Fishy Facts: The Benefits of Eating Fish

Bet you didn’t know that something really smelly can be very healthy for you!

• Fish is high in protein but it is lower in fat and calories than beef, chicken, or pork. Fish can be an important part of a balanced diet.
• Seafood is full of important minerals like iron and zinc that help you grow.
• Fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are proven to reduce your risk of heart disease.
• Eating fatty acids has been proven to reduce inflammation and help promote healing in burn victims.
• Fish that are especially rich in omega-3 are salmon, trout, tuna, and herring.
• The American Heart Association recommends that you eat 2 servings of fish each week (1 serving= 3 ounces cooked, about the size of a checkbook).

For More Info

The Art of Brazilian Cookery, by Dolores Botafogo
Tasting Brazil, Regional Recipes and Reminiscences, by Jessica B. Harris
A Little Brazilian Cookbook, by Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz

Sources: www.ific.org, www.americanheart.org, www.fda.gov, www.umm.edu