Moqueca Capixaba

Moqueca Capixaba is the state dish of Espírito Santo, in Brazil.

It is of Amerindian origin and consists basically of layers of fish stakes, tomatoes, fresh coriander leaves, onions and red pigment powder made from (orucum plant in Portuguese).

The Moqueca pot is the typical black clay pots of the area, in which the Moqueca dish is prepared. Those pots are made with mud and mangrove tree sap, after shaped and baked on fire, there are a few applications of sap, which helps blacken the clay and make it water tight. Though one must mock-cook with oil a couple of times before proper use, to propperly seal the pot, and make it ready for use.

This typical dish, which supports the pot-making tradition is very important to Vitória's community in that it supports a number of poor families who live off the craft of preparing them. Their union is a prominent grass roots union-type organization, called "As Paneleiras" (in portuguese), meaning the pot making ladies, or something close to that. This organization, though not very powerful, none the less is an intergal part of the city's life and individual culture.