Feijoada de búzios

Step 1: Scrub 2 ¼ lb live whelks under cold running water. Discard any with cracked shells, any that smell off, and any that don't pull back into the shell when you touch them. Soak in cold water with half of 1 tbsp coarse salt for 1 hour, then rinse.

Step 2: Put the whelks in a pan of fresh cold water with 2 bay leaves and the rest of 1 tbsp coarse salt, bring to the boil and simmer for 15–20 minutes, until the meat pulls out easily with a toothpick and feels firm, like a cooked mushroom. Drain, keeping 400 ml of the water for the stock, and leave to cool.

Step 3: Pick the meat out with a toothpick, twisting it out of the spiral. Pinch off and discard the soft dark gut at the end and the hard little disc (the operculum) at the front, then slice the meat into thick pieces.

Step 4: Warm 4 tbsp olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat. Fry 2 onions, 4 garlic cloves and 3 ½ oz chouriço for 8 minutes until the onion is soft and the oil turns orange.

Step 5: Add 1 red pepper and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in 1 tsp sweet paprika, 14 oz chopped tomatoes and 1 ¾ cups whelk cooking water or fish stock and simmer for 15 minutes until slightly thickened.

Step 6: Add 1 ¾ lb cooked butter beans and the sliced whelks and simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring now and then so the beans don't stick, until thick and glossy and the chouriço is hot right through. A common mistake is boiling it hard at this stage: the beans burst and the whelks turn rubbery.

Step 7: Stir in most of 1 bunch fresh coriander, taste for salt and serve with plain rice, the rest of the coriander scattered over.