A Taste of Brazil With Ixta Belfrage

Plus: Quick broiled fish with mango curry butter.

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When cookbook author Ixta Belfrage popped onto my computer screen for this week’s interview, she mentioned that she’d just thrown together a quick lunch.

She’d pulled out some zucchini, peppers, and sprouting broccoli that were lingering in the fridge, plus a tin of mackerel and some buckwheat noodles. Add a little oil and tamari, plus tons of lime juice and a chopped chile condiment she always keeps around, and it’s a meal I can’t stop thinking about.

You’ll get Ixta’s recipe for that chopped chile staple below. You can spoon the bright and spicy condiment over quick noodles of your own, or eggs or rice or roasted eggplant. Or stir it into a quick, gingery mango jam with melted butter like Ixta does, spooning the result over sole or cod before broiling.

Ixta’s new Brazilian-inspired book, Fusão, demonstrates how much concentrated flavor you can pack onto a plate—or into a little jar. With her mango jam and chile condiment ready over the weekend, dinner’s done on a Tuesday in under 15 minutes. (You’ll find the full recipe below.)

Make her pineapple hot sauce, and you’ll be able to quickly transform roasted carrots into a sweet-sour-spicy marvel. (It’s also great for dipping fritters and dressing lamb.) These sorts of flavor bombs, which Ixta first started thinking about when working on Ottolenghi Flavor, can be crucial for moments when you’re just not sure what to cook.

Ixta gives us a peek at her ideal dinner party menu, too, plus her absolute favorite ways to use up September’s most bountiful vegetables. If you’re staring at a mountain of zucchini or eggplant right now, I highly recommend tuning in.

Win a copy of Fusão

Thanks to Interlink Publishing, I have one beautiful copy of Ixta’s new book to give away. To enter, make sure you’re signed up as a paid subscriber to this newsletter by end of day Friday, September 12, 2025. That’s all you need to do, though I’d also love if you’d leave a comment and hit that ❤️ at the bottom of this post—it’s a great way to help make sure other folks know about this newsletter!

Giveaway winner will be alerted by Substack DM and email—be sure to check your messages.

Becoming a paid subscriber is the best way to help keep The Dinner Plan going, but free subscribers can enter the giveaway by sending us a voice memo for potential inclusion on the show. Just tell us what’s in your fridge, freezer, and pantry, following the instructions here by Friday, September 12 to enter.

U.S. addresses only, 18+. Giveaway not sponsored or administered by Substack. Ends September 12, 2025. This newsletter includes affiliate links—commissions from your purchase help to support the show.

Ixta mentioned:

Red palm oil
Urucum / annatto
Stir-fried papaya with crispy basil (reprinted from Fusão on RTE)
Xiengni Zhou’s steamed sea bass and turnip cake
Sticky Rice-Stuffed Aubergines (The Guardian)
Charutos with spicy tomato broth (The Guardian)
Eric Werner and Mya Henry’s Hartwood: Bright, Wild Flavors from the Edge of the Yucatán (Bookshop here)
Maria Bradford’s Sweet Salone: Recipes from the Heart of Sierra Leone (Bookshop here)

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Maggie mentioned:

Cookbooks of Interest Cookbook Club on Facebook
Noor Murad on The Dinner Plan
Joe Sasto’s book, Breaking the Rules (fun melon gazpacho!)
Molly Baz’s Pan Con Tomatermelon (plus this frozen watermelon bloody mary!)
Brooklyn Delhi mango chutney

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Photographs: Kim Lightbody and Pedro Pinho

Fish With Mango Curry Butter

Excerpted from Fusão: Untraditional Recipes Inspired by Brasil by Ixta Belfrage. Published by Interlink Publishing Group.

This recipe is ridiculously simple—easy enough for a midweek meal and impressive enough to serve at a dinner party.

The mango curry butter (scroll down for the recipe) works in lots of different contexts; try rubbing it all over a spatchcocked chicken before roasting at 475°F (250°C) for 40 minutes, or melt it over grilled shrimp or roasted plantain. Try a variation with papaya jam instead of mango jam in the butter.

Note: I like to use flat fish here like sole or plaice, which cook very quickly. The method here includes cooking time for a 1 lb (500 g) sole, trimmed to remove the head and fins. A smaller, 12 oz (350 g) plaice should take around 6 minutes. Fillets or steaks (cod or haddock, for example) weighing 7 oz (200 g) should also take around 6 minutes under the broiler.

Serves 2
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook time: 9 – 11 minutes

Mango curry butter
7 Tbsp (100 g) salted butter
3 Tbsp mango jam (see below, or use a store-bought mango chutney)
1 Tbsp chopped red chile condiment (see below), or use a store-bought chopped chile condiment)
2 tsp medium curry powder
2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
⅛ oz (5 g) cilantro, very finely chopped
plenty of freshly cracked pepper

Fish
2 x 1 lb (500 g) sole or plaice (see note)
olive oil
3 oz (80 g) scallions, green ends cut into 4-inch (10 cm) lengths (use the whites in another recipe)
sea salt flakes
1 lime, to serve
1 lemon, to serve

1. Put all the butter ingredients into a medium saucepan and place on medium-low heat. Gently cook until the butter has melted, 2-3 minutes, stir, then set aside to cool for a few minutes.

2. Preheat the oven broiler to the highest temperature.

3. Very lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil—just enough so that the fish doesn’t stick. Place the sole, skin side up and spaced apart, on the pan. Pat dry, then sprinkle generously and evenly with salt. Spoon the butter evenly over the fish, leaving some butter in the pan to finish the dish with.

4. Rinse the scallion green ends so they’re slightly damp—this will stop them burning—then spread them out on top of the fish.

5. Broil on the top rack of the oven for 7-8 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the scallions are very lightly charred.

6. Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with sea salt flakes and spoon more of the mango butter over the fish (warm it first if it’s set). Squeeze over plenty of fresh lime and lemon and serve.

Mango or Papaya Jam

You can make this jam with mango or papaya—both are equally delicious. Try either option on a corn cake or coconut rice pudding. They also work extremely well as a condiment to grilled/fried/roasted meat and fish, in which case I highly recommend adding 1 tablespoon of English mustard for a fiery kick.

Makes 12oz (350g)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

3 extra-ripe mangoes or 1 medium, extra-ripe papaya or (about 1 lb 3 oz/1 kg)
scant ½ cup (100 g) tangerine juice (from 3-4 tangerines)
3½ Tbsp lime juice (2-3 small limes), plus ½ a lime to serve
3 Tbsp honey (or maple/agave syrup)
⅓ oz (10 g) hunk of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 cinnamon stick
3 red bird’s-eye chiles or 1 Scotch bonnet chile, whole
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Peel the mango or papaya, remove the pit/seeds and chop the flesh into 1 inch (3 cm) chunks. Put the chopped fruit into a 12 inch (30 cm) wide pot and add all the other ingredients.

2. Place the pot on medium heat. Cook, stirring often, for about 25 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates and the fruit softens. Use a spoon to mash the fruit and help break it down. Remove the ginger, cinnamon and chiles.

3. Finish with the juice of half a lime, transfer to a clean jam jar and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.

Chopped red chile condiment

This chopped red chile mix is very hot, so wear gloves when handling the chiles if you’re sensitive to chile burns. If you're not a huge fan of heat, you can add less chile and/or you can temper the chile with drained, grated tomato. Add as much as you like to get your desired heat level.

Makes 12oz (350g)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes

3 Scotch bonnet chiles (1 oz/30 g)
10½ oz (300 g) mild red chiles, deseeded and roughly chopped
3 Tbsp rice or apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra to seal
1½ Tbsp (15 g) sea salt flakes
⅓ oz (10 g) fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
⅓ oz (10 g) garlic cloves (about 3), peeled and roughly chopped

1. Heat a frying pan on high heat, then add the Scotch bonnets and cook, turning, until charred all over, 4-5 minutes. Remove and discard the stalks and seeds.

2. Put the deseeded chopped red chile, the deseeded Scotch bonnet and all the remaining ingredients into a food processor and pulse until very finely chopped. Don’t over-process; you want small pieces, not a paste.

3. Transfer to clean glass jars, cover with a thin layer of olive oil—just enough to cover the top—and refrigerate. Use within 3 weeks.

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