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Tuesday, May 24, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Spicy shrimp stew
has island roots
Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
Shrimp rougaille is spicy with chiles and
fragrant with ginger.
By GRETCHEN McKAY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
N
o matter where they hail from, part of the appeal of
skillet dishes is the fact they get dinner on the table in no
time, usually with just a handful of ingredients.
This spicy shrimp dish
has roots that reach all the
way to the island nation
of Mauritius, east of Mad-
agascar. A tasty blend of
European, African, Chi-
nese and Indian influences,
Mauritius cuisine features a
lot of fresh seafood. Much
of it is enlivened with rich
spices like ginger, garlic
and thyme, and chile also is
a key player.
After a quick sear in
the pan, shrimp is softly
poached in a mildly spicy
Creole tomato sauce made
from fresh tomatoes fla-
vored with minced ginger,
garlic, onion and cilantro
stems. It’s served with even
more cilantro — you have
to be a fan — and a sprinkle
of green scallions.
The recipe calls for
extra-large shrimp, but
I used colossal (15 per
pound) because it was on
sale. For more bite, season
the shrimp with a little
more cayenne, or add a
pinch or two to the tomato
sauce. Serve with steamed
white rice.
SHRIMP
ROUGAILLE
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper,
divided, or more to taste
Kosher salt and ground
black pepper
1 1/2 pounds extra-large shrimp,
peeled, deveined and patted dry
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely minced
fresh ginger
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
4 scallions, whites minced,
greens sliced on the diagonal,
reserved separately
1 bunch cilantro, stems minced,
leaves roughly chopped,
reserved separately
1 pound ripe tomatoes,
cored and chopped
Cooked rice, for serving
In small bowl, stir together
1/4 teaspoon cayenne and 1/2
teaspoon salt. Season the shrimp
on both sides with the mixture.
In a 12-inch skillet over
medium-high heat, heat oil until
shimmering. Add half of the shrimp
in a single layer and cook without
stirring until golden on the bottom,
45 to 60 seconds. Using a slotted
spoon, transfer to plate. Brown the
remaining shrimp in the oil remain-
ing in the pan, then transfer to the
plate with the first batch.
To the oil remaining in the
skillet, add ginger, garlic, thyme,
scallion whites, cilantro stems,
remaining 1/2 teaspoon cayenne,
1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon
black pepper. Cook over medium,
stirring often, until fragrant, about
1 minute.
Add tomatoes and 1 cup water.
Bring to a simmer, scraping up any
browned bits, then cook, stirring
occasionally and adjusting the heat
as needed to maintain steady but
gentle simmer, until the sauce is
slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Add shrimp and accumulated
juices. Cook, stirring, until the
shrimp are opaque throughout,
2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan
from the heat and stir in cilantro
leaves. Taste and season with salt
and pepper.
Transfer to a serving dish and
sprinkle with scallion greens. Serve
over cooked rice.
Serves 4.
— “Milk Street: The World in a
Skillet” by Christopher Kimball
(Voracious, April 2022, $35)
Parents scramble during infant formula shortage
By SARAN GANTZ
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA —
Karah Weiser was about
to trudge on to yet another
store in search of the spe-
cialty hypoallergenic baby
formula her 4-month-old
needs. But first she paused,
took another look at the
half-empty store display,
and snapped a picture.
“Boothwyn Walmart,”
the 32-year-old Drexel Hill
mother wrote alongside
the photo she uploaded to
a Facebook group she cre-
ated to help caregivers track
down infant formula.
A nationwide infant for-
mula shortage has made
families into scavengers,
searching the internet and
driving miles in search
of a can of the powder
or concentrate liquid to
feed their child one more
day. Whether by choice
or necessity, families that
use formula often feel iso-
lated and ostracized for not
feeding their baby breast
milk, and the shortage has
added exponentially to that
guilt and stress. Still, Phil-
adelphia-area families have
been banding together to
help each other get the food
— and support — they
need.
Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer-TNS
Ashley Brown (front) and Kristen Bradwell prepare infant formula for their month-old daughter, Amelia, in their home in Brookhaven, Pa. Monday,
May 16, 2022. Amelia is exclusively formula-fed, and to make sure they had enough, Ashley had to order a case through a seller on Facebook.
Facebook groups like
Weiser’s Delco Formula
Finders are flooded with
pictures of store shelves
with dates and addresses,
while other parenting
groups have become
informal marketplaces to
buy, sell, trade or donate
unopened formula. Phila-
delphia lactation consul-
tants are setting up dona-
tion boxes at libraries and
shuttling supplies between
clients’ homes. And lac-
tating mothers who don’t
use formula are packaging
up their excess breastmilk
to donate.
“Ever since I started
looking for formula, it’s
really shocking how much
there isn’t,” said Weiser, her
voice beginning to crack.
For all the wild emotions,
sleeplessness and stress
that always come with a
newborn, the thought of
her baby or anyone else’s
baby going without formula
still demands action. “I
think it’s great people are
looking out for each other,”
she said.
On Monday, the U.S.
Food and Drug Adminis-
tration said it had reached
a deal with formula giant
Abbott, to reopen the man-
ufacturing plant that has
been closed since Feb-
ruary, when several infants
who consumed formula
made there became ill and
two died. Still, Abbott said
it will be several weeks
before new formula hits
store shelves.
Families that can afford
to pay whatever it costs
to get the formula they
need have found success
in online retailers and buy/
sell/trade Facebook groups.
Though, as Ashley Brown
found out, these formula
cans are often marked up.
Brown, 29, of
Brookhaven, in Delaware
County, had decided to for-
mula-feed her baby before
she was born, but didn’t
want to stock up until she
knew what type her baby
would prefer — especially
if it was a type another
family needed immediately.
See, Formula/Page B3