A cataplana is an item of cookware used to prepare Portuguese seafood dishes, popular in the country's Algarve region. The cataplana is also the name of a typical dish of Algarve region as well as a Portuguese item of cookware used to make the dish and a method of cooking using it.

Cataplana is a savory Portuguese fish stew made with mussels, fish, potatoes, sausage, saffron and smoked paprika. Paella is a Spanish rice dish starring a short grain and very absorbent rice called calasparra or bomba, and traditionally using seafood and meats.

How to Use It. The cataplana works best over an open flame, which curls around the curve of the bottom pan. “Because its surface is not flat, it does not work well on cooktops,” Pinheiro says. “The traditional ones were prepared over a wood fire, but a gas fire works well — like with a wok.”