Sunday, February 26, 2012

Portugal Trip: The Food

I have several posts coming this week about my recent Vinho Verde trip.  To start, the food. It was excellent, both at restaurants and at the meals served to us at wineries. Although we had beef one night (in Spain), the focus was very much on seafood and pork, which made me very happy. A few points below and then some images:

• We had salt cod at almost every meal. Many fritters, but also a memorable casserole I sadly did not photograph featuring salt cod, turnip greens, black-eyed peas and bread crumbs. I'll be googling for a recipe.
• Custard: not just the expected individual egg tarts, but also flavored with orange and in cakes.
• Squid and octopus, oh my! Very much highlights at several meals and the star of my favorite meal of the trip.
• Excellent bread, but also many meals served with both excellent rice and roasted potatoes.
• Oranges were growing almost everywhere. Orange juice, along with large quantities of tea, accompanied my breakfast daily.
• Multiple meals were roasted over wood. Made me want to try it in my fireplace at home.
• Ham so good that I wished I could have brought some back to San Francisco with me.  
 


Not just for show: Pork, rice and potatoes roasting.


Salt cod fritters with rosé and cured pork in the background.
At  Dop in Porto. A silver dollar sized burger.

Scallop, mushroom and egg. Plus a perfectly seasoned salad. Also at Dop. 

Ham at the market in Ponte de Lima

Salt cod, also at the market.

Beans at the market.
My favorite meal of the trip: Octopus and potatoes roasted over a wood fire with lots of olive oil and garlic.

Bakery window.
Bread with the symbol of Guimarães, the 2012 European Capital of Culture 
Oranges were everywhere.

8 comments:

  1. That octopus dish gets my heart racing!

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  2. You are so lucky! I loved visiting Lisbon, the Douro and Porto. I think I had pork at just about every meal. Would love to go back...

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  3. What you get by reaching your destination isn't nearly as important as what you become by reaching that destination.

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  4. “If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.”
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  5. “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life”
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  6. Hi Amy! I saw this post you did on Portuguese food but wasn't sure if you were also interested in Latin American wine ;)

    We were hoping to get some of your advice on wine events around SF and invite you to a Latin American-themed one coming up this Saturday at 12:30PM at a wine bar called Antologia Vinoteca.

    We're working on Simmr (http://www.simmr.co) which helps restaurants/bars put on events that showcases something beyond a typical visit like a kitchen tour, a hands-on food making session, or a special tasting. People come to these experiences to discover new places in an interesting way and build deeper relationships with places they already love.

    I'd love to chat with you about how you think about what wine events are interesting and how you discover them! It'd be great to chat after the event if you're able to come or at another time that works for you! :)

    Thanks!
    Wendy

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