“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…
The early golden age of Pico wine After being introduced in the Azores archipelago in the 15th century, the profusion of new vines extended to several islands, which due to natural reasons excluded the occidental group. From subsistence strategy to exportation The first reports of Azores wine exports date back to the 16th century, when…
The first time I stepped on Pico island, one of the nine islands in the Azores archipelago, I had no idea of what I was about to discover. Contrary to what is common, I didn’t plan this trip myself. I was invited by some dear friends to join them on a 10-day trip…
The Azores are mostly known as a nature and adventure destination but, in recent years, Azorean gastronomy and wines are finally getting international recognition and thus motivating food lovers to put these Portuguese islands in their travel wishlist. Oh! My Cod Pico Experience is a great example of that. The archipelago of the Azores is…
How to choose, to soak and to cook your Portuguese salted codfish? In Portugal we say that there are as many Portuguese cod fish recipes in Portugal as there are days in the year. Yes, you heard it well! At least 365 different recipes! So next time someone asks you how the codfish Portuguese style…
Portuguese salted codfish is a traditional ingredient deeply rooted in Portuguese eating habits. And it has been like this for the last five centuries. From the north to the south of Portugal, from east to west, from high-status families to the humblest homes, it’s everywhere! And don’t think this is part of an old-fashioned Portuguese…
In Portugal, the Easter season brings out a culinary delight in traditional dishes. But Easter in Portugal is part of a wider scene, namely the Spring cycle, in which we can also include the cult of the Holy Spirit (Festas do Espirito Santo), celebrated mainly in the Azores islands. Whatever the region of Portugal or…
A sopa, um dos elementos essenciais dos hábitos e da cultura portuguesa, é um dos pratos mais económicos e também mais fáceis de cozinhar. A enorme diversidade das sopas portuguesas oferece opções para qualquer gosto ou ocasião: desde as sopas mais substanciais com couve e feijão, às canjas de galinha, ou aos gaspachos para dias…