(This is an excerpt from Andrew Huse’s The Columbia Restaurant. You can also find a recipe for The Columbia's Spanish Bean Soup here and an excerpt about restaurant’s rollicking characters of the 1920s here.)

Some food theorists don't think that a beef-based sauce can work with seafood. Over the years, millions of Columbia patrons have disagreed. This classic is one of the Columbia's signature dishes.

Snapper "Alicante"

8 shrimp, peeled with tail on, 10-count

4 slices cooked bacon

4 cups Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup garlic, finely chopped

Columbia Seasoning

4 cups flour

4 eggs, beaten

1 eggplant

2 cups bread crumbs

2 Spanish onions, cut into 1/4-inch slices

4 7-ounce fillets of snapper, boneless

2 green peppers, cut into 1/4-inch slices

6 cups Alicante Sauce [see below]

Dry white wine

1/4 cup almonds, lightly toasted in the oven

1 lemon, sliced thinly

Wrap shrimp with 1/2 slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Combine 2 cups extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and 2 tablespoons Columbia Seasoning to create marinade. Marinate shrimp for 2 to 3 hours. Combine flour with 6 tablespoons of Columbia Seasoning. Beat eggs in a small bowl. Batter shrimp in the following order: seasoned flour, egg, and then seasoned flour again. Peel and slice eggplant into 1-inch slices. Batter eggplant in the following order: seasoned flour, beaten egg, and then bread crumbs. Keep refrigerated until cooking time.

Preheat oven to 550 degrees. Place eight slices of onion ont he bottom of a shallow casserole dish. Season fish with Columbia Seasoning and place on top of onions. Lay two slices of green pepper on top of each fillet, and then top with Alicante Sauce. Bake in oven fro approximately 20 minutes.

While fish is cooking, deep-fry the breaded eggplant and shrimp at 350 degrees in 2 cups of extra-virgin olive oil until golden brown. Remove toothpicks from shrimp. Remove fish from oven when cooked through and splash with white wine and top with toasted almonds. Garnish with shrimp, eggplant, and lemon wheels. Serves 4.

Alicante Sauce

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 cup flour

2 cups tomato puree

5 peppercorns

14 cups beef stock

1/4 cup parsley, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup Madeira wine

4 tablespoons heavy cream

1/3 cup white wine

Salt to taste

Melt butter and olive oil in sauce pan. Saute onions, celery, carrots, bay leaves, and thyme. Add flour and cook mixture over medium heat until flour is lightly brown. Add tomato puree, peppercorns, 8 cups of beef stock, and parsley. Cook over low heat, covered for 2 hours. Add rest of the beef stock and Madeira wine. Simmer until reduced by one third. Strain sauce. Add heavy cream and white wine. Season with salt to taste. Makes approximately 5 cups.

(Reprinted with permission of the University Press of Florida.)

This article appears in Mar 24-30, 2010.