The Algarve Cataplana

In the Algarve the dish is named after the pan. A cataplana is two hinged copper domes that clamp shut on each other, so whatever is inside cooks in its own steam and loses nothing, and it is opened at the table in a burst of coriander and shellfish. The usual version is clams and prawns with onion, pepper, tomato, white wine and a great deal of fresh coriander; the other classic pairs clams with pork and chourico. It is ordered for two or more and eaten from the pan, and the design is generally credited to the copper working the region inherited from its Moorish centuries.

What you actually see

• The pan - hinged copper domes clamped shut and unclipped at the table.
• Cataplana de marisco - clams and prawns in wine, tomato and coriander.
• Pork and clams - the other classic pairing, meat cooked with shellfish.
• The coriander - used in quantity, and the flavour that defines the dish.

When to go

Year-round in Algarve towns, though shellfish is better outside the deepest summer heat and cheaper away from the resort strip. It is a long lunch or a slow dinner, since the pan takes a good half hour to arrive. Fishing ports such as Olhao, Portimao and Tavira cook it for locals as well as visitors.

Honest expectations

Portions are built for two and ordering one for a single diner is rarely possible. On the resort strip the pan often arrives full of frozen shellfish and thin sauce at a serious price, so where you eat it matters more than what it is called. Coriander is not optional and it splits people. Souvenir cataplanas are heavy to carry home.

Nearby

The fishing towns from Olhao east to Tavira, with the Ria Formosa lagoon behind them.