Shellfish

A Cuban dish, enchilado (different from a Mexican enchilada) is seafood cooked in a mildly spicy tomato sauce. Serve this with rice and fried plantains.

The crunch and hint of licorice from a fennel bulb and fennel seeds have the magical effect of making crab taste more intensely like itself in this simple, coyly romantic salad.

Start preparing this one day before serving — it needs to chill overnight.

A Goan dish from the Savoi Spice Plantation.

This recipe was created by chefs Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing of the Longbranch in Abita Springs, Louisiana. It's part of a special menu they created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

This recipe was created by chefs Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing of the Longbranch in Abita Springs, Louisiana. It's part of a special menu they created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Marcus Samuelsson's book, Aquavit : And the New Scandinavian Cuisine Salads like this one are part of the Swedish smorgasbord enjoyed on special occasions such as New Year's. Called skagen in Swedish, this salad is named for a Danish fishing village across the river from Sweden. It's a very traditional dish that appears on every smorgasbord table in the country. Here is our version, which includes smoked salmon, shrimp, and crabmeat. It makes a great lunch served with crusty French bread or whole-grain crispbread.

A cook's dream: The base is made ahead, and the shrimp are added at the last minute. Best of all, the gumbo tastes even better the second day.

Serve these with extra lemon wedges.

Executive chef Michael Psilakis, at Dona in New York City, recommends piling leftovers of this dish over greens for an easy next-day salad.

This fragrant soup from Sam Hazen, executive chef at Tao in New York City and Las Vegas, is brimming with lean protein. Perfect for chilly weather!

This satisfying stew just may be the essence of Cajun cooking: shrimp with onion, celery, and green pepper, all given depth by brown roux and livened up with cayenne.

This dramatic first course won't soon be forgotten. Chunks of sweet lobster meat bound by a shimmering jelly of fennel-and-tarragon-scented lobster stock promises the most pristine lobster salad you'll ever taste.

Just a small amount of precious saffron turns this weeknight supper into something out of the ordinary. We prefer cultivated mussels because they require less cleaning, making them a cinch to prepare.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Feast: Food to Celebrate Life, by Nigella Lawson. 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.

Editor's note: This recipe is from Ming Tsai's book, Ming's Master Recipes.