- [Sheri] In his restaurants and home kitchen, Jay Bastardo prepares family recipes from the Dominican Republic, with fresh ingredients that flourish in Eastern North Carolina, where his cooking builds community.

[lively music] Jay invites us into his kitchen to share his seafood gumbo, which starts with ripe red tomatoes from his garden.

[lively music] Hey, thank you for having me over today.

- Thank you for being here.

- So what are we gonna make?

- So today, we're gonna be making a salsa criolla, which is native to our country, the Dominican Republic, and we're gonna be using lots and lots of tomatoes.

- Wonderful tomatoes.

So what are we gonna do with that sauce once it's made?

How do we serve that?

- So that's gonna be the base.

And in the Dominican Republic, it's the base to a lot of different dishes, right?

So today, we're gonna be using what we call an asopao back home.

Here in the United States, we call it a gumbo, so.

- A gumbo.

- Yes, ma'am.

- But most important question is who is our assistant here?

- Well, that is Chef Maiah.

- Maiah, I'm Sheri.

Thank you for letting me come to your house today.

- [Maiah] No problem.

- So I understand you normally help Papi cook, but today, what are you gonna do for us today?

- I'm gonna taste test.

- You're gonna taste test.

Well, I look forward to your opinion.

Thank you.

- No problem.

- All right, we're gonna get busy now.

See a little bit, okay?

- Okay.

- All right, friend, what's our first step?

- So we're gonna be chopping up some good stuff.

What we're getting ready to do is to make our base.

And in order for you to have a great base, you gotta have great fresh vegetables.

So we've got some peppers, some onions, red peppers, a lot of cilantro.

- [Sheri] And tell me what our seasonings are going to be.

- So the Dominican Republic is all about the spices, right?

And the Caribbean, we all know that.

So you're gonna have bija, which is what we have in the Dominican Republic.

You might know it by achiote.

- Yes.

- Then you have Spanish adobo.

You cannot go to a Dominican or a Spanish family and not have adobo.

Like, that is the heart of the entire operation.

You don't have adobo, you don't have flavor.

If you didn't have enough, we bring Sazon Completo, which is a complete seasoning.

- So this it: our vegetables, our three seasoning blends, and then ready to hit the pot?

- Ready to hit the pot.

- All right.

So we're gonna start our sauce.

What's our first step?

- First step, like most sauces, right?

So we're gonna make a sofrito.

So for that, we need some extra virgin olive oil.

Looking for a little shimmer, and now we're gonna start adding some of the goodness.

- Okay, so I see shimmering oil in there.

- That's right.

- That's step one.

And then spices, you say?

- Spices we go.

- Okay.

- [Jay] We got some Sazon Completo.

- You could smell that burst of that aroma.

That hot oil is blooming these, sort of.

- That's it.

- Is that what you'd say?

- That's exactly what's happening.

- And this is the adobo.

- [Jay] This is the adobo, so.

And again, you're gonna, you know, put some love in there.

- And then you just wanna cook these until the aroma comes out?

How will I know when it's in there long enough?

- [Jay] Well, the cool thing about food is that it speaks to you.

- It does, doesn't it?

- It does.

So you can hear, and she's gonna tell you exactly when they're ready for me to put some more of the other ingredients.

So tomatoes is next.

- Tomatoes, 'cause they're juiciest.

[tomato sizzles] Oh, listen to that.

So you're getting some caramelization on.

- That's exactly what's happening.

So you're gonna get them to caramelize and break down.

But first, you gotta make the sofrito.

Sofrito's gotta be done right.

And then we go with some of the cilantro, right?

So, a lot of folks would chop these up.

- Interesting.

So you're putting that herb in early, which is counterintuitive from what I'm doing, but that's really interesting to me.

- So remember, we're dealing with a citrus fruit, which is gonna break down all the other ingredients.

- Got it.

And there's salt in these spice blends, right?

- There's already salt built into all these blends, so we don't have to be adding any extra salt.

- Okay.

- So we're definitely talking about caramelization.

- Uh-huh, and then your onion.

And you're gonna put both colors of onion at the same time.

- One for sweetness, the other one just to break down in color.

[vegetables sizzling] Some red and green pepper for flavor.

- And then I love that you're using celery and the leaves.

I think people don't appreciate celery leaves enough.

- Well, this is one of the most flavorful things you can ever put into anything.

We're gonna add more tomatoes.

- And more tomatoes on top, and then another layer of everything else.

- We're just gonna throw it all in there.

- You're clearing the board.

- Clear the board, clear the board.

- So are you gonna stir this, or are you leaving these layers just as you want 'em?

- Just as I want 'em.

Put the pot on it, and come back with a little bit of water.

- Got it.

And about how long is that gonna take?

- This will be a four-hour process.

- The whole thing?

- The whole thing.

- You betcha.

Okay, so I'm just gonna hang tight.

- Hang tight.

- And when you tell me it's time to put in water, we'll put in water, right?

- We'll put in water.

- I believe you.

- Thank you.

- All right.

[festive music] - So that's the char from the tomato, right?

So that's exactly what you wanted to see.

That's the reason why I layered it the way I did.

We're gonna put a little bit of water just to keep it going.

- Just to keep it moving.

- Just to keep it moving, that's it.

- Without making it watery, okay.

[steam hissing] So this is just gonna continue cooking, and softening, and breaking down until, what's it gonna look like when it's ready?

- It's gonna look like a sauce, so everything's gonna pretty much just break apart.

- And so you cook with the lid on or off?

- On.

- All right.

- Let's put it back on.

- Let's put it back on.

And voila.

- Voila.

[festive music] [bright music] - I cannot wait to see this.

[gasps] Look at that.

It's just like you predicted, as you knew it would do.

- That's right.

- So I see all these beautiful seafoods.

What do we have here?

- [Jay] So we're gonna be dumping it as we go.

And it's gonna be a gumbo.

- So the seafood's gonna go in, just like your vegetables went in, in the right order.

- That's right.

So we're gonna put them in layers.

We're gonna add the lobster first.

- [Sheri] The lobster.

- [Jay] Then we do some shrimp, calamaris, and we use some clams and muscles.

- [Sheri] So you've added all that shrimp, those calamari rings, all those good things.

- We got muscles, we got clams, and now we add some of the rice.

- And so it's still cold.

- That's right.

- Straight from the fridge.

And I bet that that beautiful broth is gonna bloom that rice, warm it up.

And is it gonna take on some of that flavor as it warms up?

- It's gonna take on all the flavors that the seafood, and the tomatoes, and everything else is releasing.

And what you're gonna do is you're gonna have like this very smooshy rice, so.

And are you ready for the secret ingredient?

Oh, yes.

- Okay.

So this is something that got passed down to us from my grandmother.

This is called pickled garlic.

- Pickled garlic?

- Mm-hm.

- [Sheri] So I see it's in the jar there.

Tell me what your brine is.

- [Jay] So we have some vinegar, olive oil, oregano, and lime juice.

- Love that.

- Seal that back up.

This is the last time we're gonna be sealing stuff up, so.

- And just until the rice is tender?

- Mm-hm.

- We'll be ready.

[opulent music] Friend, these are spectacular.

This is the most elegant tomato-based thing I have ever seen.

All right, let's do it.

- Let's do it.

- I'm gonna start with some of this great broth.

[opulent music] Oh, my friend, that is so good.

I love that there are all these layers of flavor, but yet, it's simple 'cause you've let each ingredient, the tomatoes, the seafood, the herbs, those seasonings do their job and speak for themselves, and it's all together.

Friend, I cannot thank you enough.

This is the most interesting tomato stew I've ever had.

- I'm glad you came in.

- All right, do I get to come back someday if I act right?

- I'll think about it.

- Okay.

[Jay chuckles]