Seafood

They're inspired by lobster rolls, but we think you'll find these sandwiches more popular with a crowd of all ages — not to mention more affordable and easier on the cook.

This riff on traditional pasta salad gets an added layer of flavor from golden pearls of toasted couscous.

Cucumbers provide visual appeal and help keep the fish fillets delightfully moist.

Cape Malays were the first to braise lobster in spices, which resulted in this delicious curry, for which many variations exist. Earlier writers specify tamarind juice; more recently this has been replaced by lemon juice. For a simpler recipe, use lobster tails instead of whole lobsters and omit the first step in the method.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from The Dooky Chase Cookbook by Leah Chase and are part of our story on Mardi Gras.

Gael Greene shared these recipes with Epicurious from her new book, Insatiable. On a writing retreat at the cabin of screenwriter Vicki Polon, we put together this fragrant soup.

Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from The 2nd Avenue Deli Cookbook, by Sharon Lebewohl and Rena Bulkin. Gefilte fish, today a prized delicacy, dates from the Middle Ages in Germany, where it was conceived as a fish stretcher — an ancient relative of Hamburger Helper. Religious Jews embraced it as a highlight of Friday-night dinners, because it solved a spiritual dilemma: though the Talmud suggests eating fish on Friday nights, it is forbidden (because it's considered work) to separate fish from bones on the Sabbath. We've found that most people who say they don't like gefilte fish have only tasted the supermarket variety, sold in jars, which is like saying you don't like filet mignon when you've only tasted beef jerky. Happily, preparing authentic gefilte fish from scratch is not an arcane skill possessed only by Jewish great-grandmothers. With today's food processors, it's not even especially difficult. Our recipe is sweet, in the Polish tradition; Russian gefilte fish is more peppery.

Editor's note: The recipe below is excerpted from Entertaining with the Sopranos. To read more about the cookbook, click here.

Editor's note: The recipe below is excerpted from Eggs by Michel Roux. To read more about the book, click here. For optimum flavor, use the meat from a freshly cooked live crab.

Fish stews abound throughout the Mediterranean and most evolved from the fishing boats themselves, as fishermen reserved the worst of their catch for themselves and cooked it on-board.

Editor's Note: This recipe was originally part of a menu by Bobby Flay for a backyard barbecue. For the complete menu and Flay's tips on throwing a party, click here. I was taught to grill oysters on one of my trips to the Pacific Northwest. This is one of those dishes where organization is imperative. Because the oysters cook for only a few minutes, you've got to have the garnishes ready before you put the shells on the grill. The mango pico de gallo and the red chile horseradish are hot and sweet on your tongue. If you think that the red chile horseradish looks too spicy, don't worry, for the sweet mango provides just the right cooling sensation. The oysters actually "pop" when they are cooked and make for a great presentation.

Recipe from the kitchen of Felicia Gray, age 12 Many crab dip recipes call for imitation crabmeat, but there's no place for "krab" here. Only real lump crabmeat makes it taste best. Serve it while it's hot with crackers, bite-size pieces of bread, or veggie sticks. It can also be presented in a bread bowl and served with a tray of fresh broccoli, carrots, zucchini, or crackers.

(Amêijoas na Cataplana Casa Velha) Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Jean Anderson's book The Food of Portugal. Anderson also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Anderson and Portuguese cuisine, click here. The Portuguese ingenuity for combining pork and shellfish in a single dish dates back, it's been said, to one of the darker chapters of Iberian history — the Inquisition. Amêijoas na Cataplana, together with a number of other pork-shellfish combinations, were invented as a sort of culinary double-whammy to test one's Christian zeal (pork and shellfish being proscribed to both Jew and Moslems). On a recent swing through the Algarve Province, where this popular cataplana recipe originated, I tried to verify the theory, without success. Manuel Paulino Revéz and Esteban Medel do Carmo, assistant directors at Faro's Escola de Hotelaria e Turismo do Algarve (Algarve Hotel and Tourism School), both doubt that there's any connection between the Inquisition and the creation of Portugal's many pork and shellfish combinations. They do admit, however, that Amêijoas na Cataplana is a recipe so old that its genesis is clouded by the dust of ages. Whatever its origin, the gloriously soupy mélange of unshucked baby clams, ham, and sausages in garlicky tomato sauce is supremely successful. This particular version comes from Casa Velha, once one of the Algarve's top restaurants. Now closed, alas, it was located in a historic, heavily beamed farmhouse amid the umbrella pines and luxury estates of Quinta do Lago near Faro. Note: Portuguese clams are tiny, thin-shelled, and uncommonly sweet. The best substitutes are West Coast butter clams or, failing them, the smallest littlenecks you can find. This dish need not be prepared in a cataplana, a hinged metal container shaped like a giant clam shell that can be clamped shut; any kettle with a tight-fitting lid works well. Finally, this is a naturally salty dish, so add no extra salt before tasting.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Mai Pham's book The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking. Pham also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Pham and Vietnamese cuisine, click here. If you get invited to a traditional Vietnamese dinner, chances are you will probably be treated to this ca kho to. It is so basic and popular that in many homes (mine included) it is served almost every other day.

Editor's note: The recipe below is excerpted from Katie Brown's Weekends. To read more about Katie Brown and to get her tips on throwing a headache-free cocktail party, click here. I love an all-in-one dish!

Maccheroncini al Pesce Spada This dish epitomizes what I have found true Sicilian cooking to be: fresh tasting, light, and fragrant.

While I love a shrimp cocktail, this I think has a slight, elegant edge. The hot, green mustardy horseradish, the wasabi paste, is not so hard to find these days but you could always substitute a small dollop of Colman's English mustard in its place I suppose. Similarly, you could shred some little Boston lettuce should you have difficulty locating the Chinese leaves.

Uova Ripiene di Tonno Recipes are some of my favorite souvenirs of memorable dining experiences. Whenever I make these eggs, for example, I am reminded of the first time I ate them at Belvedere, a favorite restaurant in La Morra in Piedmont. The owner told me what was in them, and at home I experimented with the proportions of the ingredients to get the flavor I remembered.