Seafood

Clams in an oil and garlic sauce are found all over Spain but are especially good in Andalusia, where tiny bean clams are used. Cockles, Manila clams, and small littlenecks work well, too. Serve plenty of crusty bread to soak up the sauce.

A great dish from Dalvay By The Sea.

Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

A fabulous all-in-one dish, similar to paella, from Lucques in Los Angeles.

For best results, buy small clams for this quick and sophisticated recipe.

Brewed green tea is a delicious, aromatic broth for scallops in this refined rendition of Japan's ochazuke, or "tea rice." The comforting soup-like dish evolved from using hot tea to rinse out rice bowls at the end of meals. Serve this as a light lunch or as an appetizer, followed by teriyaki-marinated chicken or salmon and some steamed Asian greens.

Ravigote sauce is piquant vinaigrette that typically contains onions, capers, and herbs. The hard-boiled egg in this rendition gives the sauce body. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. The cuisine of Goa, a former Portuguese colony, is an exuberant amalgam of Portugal and India. Liberal use of Portuguese vinegar, along with hot chiles (an import from the New World) and spices, produces the scarlet-hued vindaloo curries typical of this state. The following outstanding Goan seafood curry — a milder variation of vindaloo, and with lime juice replacing the vinegar — features clams steamed with sautéed onion, spices, and fresh coconut milk. They are then tossed with grated coconut, cilantro, and a squirt of lime juice and are generally accompanied by a pao, a soft, warm roll (another Portuguese contribution) for sopping up the juices. This dish is equally good with mussels or oysters.

If one large fish is difficult to find, two smaller ones can be substituted.

One piece of gemelli consists of two strands of pasta-both about an inch long-twisted around each other to resemble a braid. These noodles are great for catching the juices in this garlicky entrée. If you can't find gemelli, use fusilli; it will work just as well.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The provenance of this southern dish is shared by the Hakka and the Cantonese. The historic popularity of salt-baked chicken over the years led to various foods being called "salt-baked" even though they were not. The process of water-blanching, coating, and oil-blanching approximates baking to the Hakka taste. To the Cantonese the dish is simply jiu yim, or "pepper salt" to demote its primary flavors.