A Portuguese Love

Lamprey is not fish and has a cartilaginous skeleton. Local fishermen tie the lamprey by the head and pour it in and out of boiling water several times to kill it. Then they scrub the skin up and down with the help of a hard cloth to remove dirt and keep the skin intact. They remove a nerve in the head and make an incision in the animal’s belly. From there they make several cuts in the tail’s direction along the surface of the lamprey’s body. This will help to reach and remove the intestine and bill through the first incision. This is a delicate operation. The flesh will taste bitter and the dish will be spoiled if they don’t remove it intact. They keep the blood that drains to a recipient. The blood will be used to prepare this famous dish. They pour a glass of wine or vinegar into the recipient so the blood does not coagulate. This dish is typical from Baixo Mondego region-lampreys to go up this river that meets the sea at Figueira da Foz. Rice production takes place in Baixo Monde...

One has to be grateful for good food on the table. Yes, food is a great way to celebrate life, and not only at Christmas. I am not a good fork but I like to try everything. Fish dishes are what I prefer. I love all kinds of seafood. If I can't afford the real thing I try another option. These aren't the real ones. They are fake scallops ideal for party starters, and very easy to do - again, don't come here for sophisticated food, I am not a cook! But if it lives on the sea I will cook it because I will certainly like it! You can prepare these with any kind of fish or seafood. What do you need? Ingredients for 5 shells A bag of peeled shrimp - you can buy it fresh and boil it and then remove the peels. But it's more work around the kitchen! 1 bag of Delícias do Mar - it's crab assembled in little rectangular pieces. Again you can use fresh crab for better results or any other seafood you like. 1 small can of mushrooms Garlic, parsley, q.b. For the béchamel sauce 2...

Just finished some Sweet Rice and took a photo to show you. There it is with a big cup of black coffee! The rice isn't that yellow but I guess my mobile phone camera can't do better than that! Couldn't wait for dinner because I like to eat it while it's still hot! It's very sweet and has a lemon flavor. I posted the recipe below if you're curious and ever want to cook it one of these days! Very easy to prepare, see, I do not like the kitchen space very much...! Yesterday I went to the local mall to buy the rice to make the Sweet Rice - and the last minute gift, that's right, there was one still missing - and there was this display of Christmas Trees decorated by local kindergarten children. Very cute! How to prepare Sweet Rice? Check it righ  here!

By José Conçalves (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0  (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons MEXIDOS RECIPE that I learned from my mother (A typical recipe from the north of the country, it's also called FORMIGOS.) Ingredients: 3 small common breads (two days old or more) 1,4 L water 200 gr sugar 50 gr of butter 1 small glass of Port Wine 1 small glass of honey - you can had more if you like Half a lemon peel 1 cinnamon stick a pinch of salt 100 g pinenuts 150 g walnuts 100 g raisins ( you can use almonds too) How to prepare it: Cut the bread in fine slices. In a small bowl add the Port wine and the raisins. In a pan put the water to boil. When the water is boiling add put the bread and cover. Let it rest for some minutes. Then use the blender. Now you have a paste. Add the pinenuts, the walnuts, the sugar, the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick to this paste and let it boil always stirring. Fire must be slow so the water evaporates slowly. When this past...

Autumn brings castanhas to Portuguese tables and I just love it. It's part of the Mediterranean diet at this time of the year. In Portugal, Greece, and Italy they are called a derivative of the Latin, Castanea. Portuguese make soups, desserts, and cakes with it. It's used in roasted meat plates as trimming. Do you know that they are low in calories and rich in vitamins? Roasted chestnuts are my favorite way to eat it! (Check how to do it later in this post!) Roasting requires cutting the fruit first with a knife or it will explode in the oven. The best ones are those we buy from street vendors. If you visit Portugal this time of the year don't miss it. Check this photo from a chestnut street vendor in 1966 - today it's still just the same. Sernancelhe . Chestnut from this region is said to be of great quality, very expensive, more than 3 euros/kg sometimes. Some advice if you're planning to buy it: skins should have a beautiful brown shine. They should also...

Lampreia Festival April 1-10 Montemor-o-Velho, Coimbra.  Lamprey Festival advertising poster. Lamprey is not a fish and has a cartilaginous skeleton. Local fishermen tie the lamprey by the head and pour it in and out of boiling water several times to kill it. Then they scrub the skin up and down with the help of a hard cloth to remove dirt and keep the skin intact. They remove a nerve in the head and make an incision in the animal’s belly. From there they make several cuts in the tail’s direction along the surface of the lamprey’s body. This will help to reach and remove the intestine and bill through the first incision. This is a delicate operation. The flesh will taste bitter and the dish will be spoiled if they don’t remove it intact. They keep the blood that drains to a recipient. The blood will be used to prepare this famous dish. They pour a glass of wine or vinegar into the recipient so the blood does not coagulate. This dish is typical from Baixo Mondego region-lampreys...

Mondego River Rice Fields Cross pattern made with cinnamon Sweet Rice is a typical Portuguese dessert. It's popular in Brazil too. In some regions when people were about to get married, it was traditional to give a Sweet Rice dish to friends or just people they knew. In return, they would receive money! My mother still did that in the fifties. I do not know if it’s just a tradition of rural areas surrounding rice fields. I live near River Mondego rice fields. It’s a beautiful landscape that changes constantly throughout the year. At first, fields are the earth's color, then they become big lakes and reflect the color of the skies, then they turn green when the rice starts to grow, and finally the end golden. I remember eating this dessert since my very early years. Then I learned how to do it from my mother of course. There are several recipes. Some have egg yolks and butter. This one has not but it’s still delicious and less fatty. Here’s the recipe for you. Ingr...

Portuguese celebrate Christmas with a rich table of sweet cakes and biscuits, dry fruits and good wine and liquors. The traditional Christmas cake is 'Bolo Rei' (which means 'King Cake') and is placed in the center of the table. It's a wreath like fruit cake laced with crystallized fruits and pine nuts. There is a tiny present inside the cake and a broad bean. The person who finds the broadbean in one slice will pay the next "King Cake"!!Some of Christmas popular desserts are rice pudding with cinnamon, fried desserts,-"filhoses"- pastries made with honey - "broas de mel" -pumpkin fritters - "sonhos". I'm about to go to the kitchen to make Rabanadas. These are also a regular presence at our table. Do you want to try some Rabanadas? What you need to buy: 1baguette loaf of bread - 1 egg - 200 ml (3/4 cup) milk - Olive oil - Sugar and cinnamon How to prepare it: 1. Cut a baguette into 1 cm (1/2...