Eira do Mel

How to Pressure Cook with a Portuguese Copper Cataplana | Eater

"Run by chef José Pinheiro, who is regarded as one of the Algarve’s best cataplana cooks, the restaurant foregrounds the traditional copper cataplana as both a cooking tool and a theatrical presentation: servers unlatch the gleaming pot tableside, releasing steam-scented aromas. Pinheiro praises the cataplana’s ability to concentrate flavors by letting steam condense back onto the ingredients—producing what he calls an “aromatic rain”—so that one side of fish can braise in the gathered broth while the other is gently steamed. He prepares both seafood-and-pork combinations and other proteins (including chicken, partridge, and a signature octopus with sweet potatoes), using either the classic one-step layering method or a more exacting staged approach in which he opens the vessel periodically to time each element precisely. Cooked over an open flame or gas that mimics it, these cataplana dishes deliver intense, nuanced coastal flavors with dramatic table-side flair." - Rafael Tonon