Food is a beautiful materialization of the interconnectedness amongst peoples from different geographical origins and cultures. Thanks to human movements across history – very often in hard conditions and, on other cases, forced -, as well as exchange of ideas even at a distance (particularly now-a-days thanks to technological advances like the internet), cuisines virtually…
Amongst the world cuisines which the Portuguese have influenced the most, we find Indian cuisine. But, human relations are rarely, if ever, unilateral, and so India has left and keeps leaving, a tremendous mark in Portuguese culture, namely when it comes to food. A taste of India in Portugal: colonialism, migrations, spices and other foods…
What’s the link between Portuguese and Indian cuisines? It’s a well-known fact for those interested in the history of world foods that Portugal, and more specifically the Portuguese explorations, were crucial to help shape some of the world’s most renowned cuisines. With some exceptions, Portuguese cooking traditions didn’t per se influence cooking habits in other…
Historically speaking, the Portuguese are masters at eating nose to tail. In spite of current day commercial demands, we still make sure to use every part of the animals we slaughter, particularly in the home context of more rural areas. It’s this zero waste mentality – first because of necessity and now because of the…
Looking into the most popular Portuguese foods it’s easy to associate the traditional cuisine of Portugal with the Atlantic diet. The Portuguese Atlantic diet has elements in common with the more well known Mediterranean diet, but it is more defining for Portuguese food ingredients and eating habits today than the Mediterranean one. Thanks to…
The Minho region: traditional dishes from the borderland Where Portuguese food and Galician traditions blend The province of Minho is located on the northwest of Portugal, with the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia to the north and the Atlantic ocean to the west. This is where Portugal was officially born as a nation, more…
The Beiras region of northeast and central Portugal are one of the least explored parts of our country, particularly by international visitors. This certainly has no direct correlation with its dramatic (and varied) scenery, rich traditions, strong culture and delightful cuisine. On the contrary, traversing from the mountains all the way to the coast,…
“Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.” -Anthony Bourdain Arminda and her husband take their flock of sheep to graze, in Alentejo, almost every day. From the milk, they produce…
One of the fish courses during our Umami Garum Lisbon Food Tour Portugal is the second largest seafood consumer in Europe, beaten only by Iceland. It is also one of the largest fish consumers in the world, a fact that is explained by the Portuguese following the Atlantic diet. However, in the so-called “developed…
Castella cake (Pão de Ló) short story The Portuguese Pão de Ló can be translated to sponge cake. It has been around in Portuguese cuisine since at least the 1700s and its original recipe is a celebration to simplicity, consisting of a mixture of only 3 ingredients: eggs, sugar, and flour. Still life with cakes…
Most visitors who come to Portugal enter the country via Lisbon, our capital city. Some make the “mistake” of sticking to the city, forsaking all the incredible areas which aren’t very far away distance wise, but that offer such a great variety of things to see, do and eat. Estremadura, the province which Lisbon belongs…
Condensing into one article the vastness of the cuisines from the Alentejo and the Algarve is no easy task, but we invite you to join our voyage as we explore one of the richest and most diverse of Portuguese regional cuisines, some of the most sought after wines and how, as we approach the…