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Bottled Summer

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QuintaMontedOiro

Tasca do Joel, a great restaurant in Peniche, teamed up with a wonderful wine estate, Quinta do Monte d’Oiro, to make wine that celebrates the joys of the Portuguese Summer. They called it “surf wine” and the label reads:

“To those who didn’t go out last night and those who didn’t sleep, to the tourists and the locals, to the crazy ones who plunge ahead and the ones who hesitate, to the ones who like the right and the others who prefer the left, to lovers of the beach break or the reef break, to those who came out of the barrel wave and those who tasted sand, to all of these, and to the surf in Peniche we make a toast!”

We don’t know what magic went into the production of these wines. But it is impossible to drink them without longing to spend the summer in Portugal!

Click here for the Tasca do Joel web site and here for the Quinta de Monte d’Oiro web site.

The freshest fish

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DCIM100GOPRO

Professional cookbooks are full of elaborate fish recipes involving numerous ingredients and complex sauces. In contrast, Portuguese recipes are very simple. There’s a reason for this simplicity. Portugal has fabulous fish that arrives to the market just hours after it is caught. So, local chefs favor preparations that emphasize the natural flavors of the sea’s bounty. 

You can taste the extraordinary quality of our fish in any good Portuguese restaurant. And you can see it for yourself by visiting one of the many fish markets. In Lisbon, our favorite is Rosanamar in Mercado da Ribeira. It offers amazing quality and variety. The fish is so fresh that, given a chance, it will swim back to the sea. 

Mercado da Ribeira is on Avenida 24 de Julho in Lisbon.

A romantic proposal

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AB 2013_382- Casa do Gato Cinzento

Perhaps you found your true love and would like to propose in a romantic, unforgettable way. If, after watching numerous black-and-white movies you still have no ideas, we have a suggestion.

Invite your loved one for a weekend in Lisbon. Without revealing your intentions, drive to the location in the photo in the end of the afternoon, an hour or two before sunset. Take a bouquet of flowers tied with a ribbon that has two pieces of lead (one to use and the other to keep as a memento). Each piece of lead should have your two initials carved.

Find the perfect moment to say: “When ancient Greeks made eternal vows, they threw a piece of lead in the ocean and promised to keep their vows until the lead floated. I want to do the same; I’ll love you until this lead floats.” Throw one of the pieces of lead in the ocean with a dramatic gesture. Take some beautiful photos and celebrate with some great Portuguese espumante.

The gazebo in the photo is part of the Casa do Gato Cinzento estate, located between the Consolação and the São Bernardino beach. It is private property, so please ask the caretaker permission to let you in. 

Traveling with Julia Kemper

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Julia Kemper

The Dão is one of the oldest Portuguese wine regions. It is a place where granitic soils force vines to work hard for their sustenance, producing small grapes that are full of flavor. We heard wonders about Julia Kemper, a new Dão producer, and we finally got a chance to try her wines.

We first opened a bottle of red wine made with Touriga Nacional, the queen varietal of the Dão region. The taste took us back to hot Summer days in the Dão valleys, when the sky is indescribably blue and everything is at peace.

We then opened a bottle of white made with Encruzado, another emblematic Dão varietal, and Malvasia Fina. The taste reminded us of cool nights in the Dão plateaus, when all the stars come out to worship the beauty of the Estrela mountain.

What a privilege it is to drink wines that take us on a journey to their terroir!

I have a terrible cold

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Mugs CS-F

If you have a cold, drinking lemon tea from beautiful Raúl da Bernarda cups is likely to make you feel better. If that plan fails, you can always take comfort in this poem by the great Fernando Pessoa:

I have a terrible cold,
And everyone knows how terrible colds
Alter the whole system of the universe,
Set us against life,
And make even metaphysics sneeze.
I have wasted the whole day blowing my nose.
My head is aching vaguely.
Sad condition for a minor poet!
Today I am really and truly a minor poet.
What I was in old days was a wish; it’s gone.
Goodbye forever, queen of fairies!
Your wings were made of sun, and I am walking here.
I shan’t get well unless I go and lie down on my bed.
I never was well except lying down on the Universe.
Excusez un peu …
What a terrible cold! … it’s physical!
I need truth and aspirin.

(Translated by J. Griffin).

Writing your story

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A do Mar_147F

Peter Mayle, a British advertising executive, moved in the 1980s to Ménerbes, a tiny village in Provence. There, he wrote “A Year in Provence,” an entertaining account of his experiences that became a global bestseller.

Frances Mayes, an American writer, moved in the 1990s to the Tuscan country side to renovate Bramasole, an old villa. She told her story in the inspiring, bestselling “Under the Tuscan Sun.”

The success of these writers reflects their ability to put the reader on location, feeling the thrill of living in a place where every day is a new adventure.

There are currently so many Portuguese houses in great locations selling at very affordable prices. These beautiful homes are waiting for the right person to come along and make them part of their story. Hurry up!

The tiniest shrimps are the tastiest

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When it comes to shrimp, bigger is not better. The best shrimp in Portugal is tiny in size but large in flavor. It is caught just off the coast and brings in it the taste of the sea. We call it “camarão da nossa costa” (shrimp from our coast). Seating in a beachside café with a plate of these shrimps and a cold draft beer is one of the simply wonderful pleasures of life.

Bolo de arroz

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Bolo de arroz (rice cake) is a simple rice-flour cake with a cylinder shape and a crusty top. It goes great with coffee and is perfect for times when we need some extra sweetness in our lives.

Manuel Ferreira’s 1933 treatise, A Cozinha Ideal, includes recipes for all the classic Portuguese cakes and pastries. There’s usually one recipe per item; in a few cases, two or three variants. But, when it comes to the bolo de arroz, Ferreira took no chances and wrote down four recipes. So, whether hot or cold, rain or shine, Portuguese pastry shops can always make this indispensable pick-me-up.

Sweet indecisions

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Every time we enter a Portuguese café, we have to decide between a large and a small “pastel de nata.” It’s not an easy choice.

Large pasteis have more filling than crust, so they leave a pronounced sweet lemony aftertaste. Eating them requires our full attention. Where do we start? Where should we place our next bite? How should we hold the pastry so we lose none of its precious filling? These pressing issues empty our mind of its usual chatter and we feel the inner peace of a yoga master.

Small pasteis de nata are crunchier. And you can do magic with them. Hold one in your hand and, when no one is looking, pop it into your mouth. Now you see it, now you don’t; all that’s left is an irrepressible smile.

So, what’s the right choice? Magic or inner peace? A crunchy bite or a lemony aftertaste? More research is required before we can render a final verdict.