Brazilian · Main / Side · 60 min
Vatapá — Bahian Shrimp, Bread & Coconut Purée
A rich, velvety icon of Afro-Brazilian Bahian cuisine: a thick, savoury purée of bread soaked and blended with coconut milk, dried and fresh shrimp, ground peanuts and cashews, and dendê (red palm oil), seasoned with ginger and herbs. Vatapá is luxurious and creamy with a gentle warmth, served as a dish in its own right with rice, or — most famously — as the filling for acarajé and abará. Its African and Indigenous roots make it one of the soul dishes of Salvador.