In the first season of the series “Rabo de Peixe”, which gained worldwide fame through Netflix, the chicharros, cooked and prepared for frying (in cocaine) helped to contextualize the customs and environment of the fishing village on the north coast of the island of São Miguel, in the Azores. They were even highlighted in the trailer promotional.
Counting down to the premiere of the second season of “Rabo de Peixe” (October 17th), we set out to discover the origin and places where fried Chicharros with villain sauce are served, one of the most emblematic recipes of the Azores.
Fried chicharros with villain sauce: the origin
Chicharros, an abundant fish in the waters of the Azores
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Fried Chicharros with villain sauce are one of the most typical dishes in Azorean cuisine and, to a large extent, their dissemination was due to the abundance of the raw material, the species Trachurus picturedknown as chicharro, on the coast of this archipelago. Because it is also “easy to capture and affordable for less wealthy people, it has become widespread, as in other places and with other species, as one of the most emblematic dishes of the Azores, particularly in São Miguel”, writes António Cavaco in the book “Gastronomia dos Açores – Cozinha Tradicional das Ilhas”.
It is a frequent presence on the menus of traditional cuisine restaurants, taverns and taverns with a value confirmed by time. Those who know its secrets pass them on to the next generation and this way the recipe stays alive, especially in areas with fishing activity. “All the towns in the Azores have a port and there were small boats for catching chicharro, the Boca Aberta. These fish fed the entire archipelago. They were food for the poor, as they were easy to catch, close to the coast, and abundant. They were our ‘fries’ as children”, recalls the chef Cláudio Pontes, who embraced the Forte Terrace project.
Cláudio Pontes still remembers when his mother would climb the ‘chicharrinhos’, stuffing them with hard bread, chorizo, ground pepper, onion and garlic, and roasting them in the clay pan. “There are great restaurants that started almost exclusively with this single product, which is simple and has very strong roots”, he points out. Paulo Freitas, trainer at the Azores Tourism Training School and responsible for the Anfiteatro restaurant, highlights that fried chicharros with villain sauce are a “familiar, comforting dish and a hallmark of the Azores”.
Versatile Spanish-inspired sauce
Fried chicharros with villain sauce at O Silva restaurant
After arranging and seasoning with salt, the chicharros are dipped in corn flour and fried, setting aside. To make the villain sauce, you start by sautéing garlic, ground pepper and vinegar, often adding white wine, paprika and parsley. “Each area has its own touch. In Água de Pau they make it with scented wine. Some people add Galician lemon in season and in Ribeira Grande they add saffron, which is also characteristic”, illustrates the chef Paulo Freitas. The sauce can top the chicharros with strips of ground pepper, or serve separately. They can be served with boiled potatoes, country cake (especially in São Miguel), yams, sweet potatoes, cured onions or salad.
In António Cavaco’s view, the villain sauce will be an “adaptation of the Spanish sauce”, but in the Azores it is cooked hot: “The processing of spices and the presence of Flemish and Spanish people ended up acculturating Azorean gastronomy. The villain sauce was used not only for chicharro, that is, small horse mackerel, but for everything else that was eaten, for example yams and potatoes cooked, conger eel or moray eel. It was used for many things, it was transversal to the kitchen, although the core was horse mackerel or fried chicharro”, he comments. Even contemporary cuisine appreciates its potential… At Anfiteatro, Paulo Freitas serves ruddy mackerel with Alentejo bread bread and a “villain gel”, obtained using molecular cuisine techniques.
Where to eat fried Chicharros with villain sauce:
Chicharro pickling at the Botequim Açoriano restaurant
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In the fishing village of Rabo de Peixe, the well-known Açoriano Bar (Tel. 296708401) presents its own version, the “Escabeche de chicharro”, which “it combines a traditional conservation technique, a fish deeply rooted in the Azorean gastronomic tradition and the know-how of our cuisine”, explains the restaurant founded in 2016 by Donária Pacheco.
Still in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, in the town of Ribeira Quente, the Costaneira Restaurant (Tel. 296584123) is an option to consider. Sónia Pimentel guarantees that she could eat chicharros “every day, without boredom”. The owner and cook of this restaurant values the “freshness of the fish and the quality of the oil for good frying”. By the sea, in fishermen’s land, this restaurant is open continuously from 12pm to 9pm and serves chicharros with villain sauce every day (closed on Tuesday). “I can’t be without this dish, because people come here on purpose to eat this”, he explains. The recipe includes white wine and to accompany it there are boiled potatoes and salad.
In the neighbor O Silva Restaurant (Tel. 917725881) the secret of the recipe begins with frying in lard. The specificities continue in the making of the villain sauce, here using scented wine and saffron, in addition to the usual olive oil, sliced garlic, ground pepper in syrup and drops of vinegar. “If you don’t add saffron, you can add sweet pepper”, suggests the cook, Margarida Silva. Accompany with boiled potatoes, Furnas yam, cured onion, ‘salty’ ground pepper and salad.
Fried chicharrinhos at Mané Cigano restaurant
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Mandatory stop in Ponta Delgada, the popular restaurant Gypsy Mané (Tel. 296285765) is one of the best-known places to eat fried chicharros. This traditional food house is over 60 years old. In the beginning, the fish came from the port opposite… They started by serving liver fillets, fried moray eel and grilled sardines. The chicharros came “as an addition”, but established themselves as “the strongest dish”, says Hélder Teixeira Sardinha, son of the founder, Manuel Sardinha or ‘”ané Cigano”. These fried chicharros are garnished with boiled potatoes, cured onion, ground pepper, roasted beans and Galician lemon, when in season. There is not always a villain sauce, but when it is made, it is served separately.
On the outskirts of Ponta Delgada, more precisely, in Relva, the Corkscrew Tavern (Tel. 296716747) is one of the must-see restaurants on the island. One of the peculiarities of the recipe for fried Chicharros with villain sauce is the fact that the fish are fried in oil and lard. In season, they use Galician lemon to add flavor and acidity. The garnish can be tomato rice instead of boiled potatoes. “Chicharro is a very characteristic fish and the cheapest we have on the market. This dish is an emblem of the region. The sauce is intense, it coats the fish and is very good”, comments the owner and chefFernando Soares.
For over 40 years, Milton Moniz’s family has been selling fish in Graça Marketin Ponta Delgada. Enough time for Milton to state that the chicharro “is the most sought after and sold species” on the island. “Fried chicharros are a very typical dish and this fish is found in abundance in the Azores, in addition to the price being attractive”, says the seller.
Chicharro “occurs mainly around the islands and associated with shallow oceanic seamounts”, reads the website of the company Fat Tuna, based in Rabo de Peixe and which exports Azorean fish to the mainland and abroad. The founding partner, Afonso van Uden, informs that this fish varies between 10/15 g and 2 kg. It can be consumed “raw in sashimi, fried with villain sauce and, increasing in size, in fillets, on the grill and baked in the oven”. “And it is no longer just the population with less wealth that consumes it. We place it in very good restaurants nationally and internationally, including those with a Michelin star”, he reveals.