Product Description

This is a collection of recipes from Portugal which includes authentic recipes such as bacalhau (salted cod) and caldo verde, a soup of cabbage and potatoes. It also includes history, traditions and anecdotes from medieval to modern times.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #188892 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Very unfairly, the cuisine of Portugal remains largely unknown outside Portuguese-speaking communities. Perhaps it is presumed to be too much a poor relation of Spanish food to be worth exploring. If so, it is a pity, for, as Edite Vieira demonstrates in her classic The Taste of Portugal--now reissued by Grub Street--it retains a distinctive, vibrant identity. Among the very interesting characteristics of Portuguese food are the presence, uniquely in Europe, of fresh herb coriander as a flavouring, a most imaginative use of clams and what almost amounts to a mania for salt cod. The Taste of Portugal gives a wonderfully rounded picture of this robust and fascinating cuisine, with its bread-heavy soups, its salt cod and fish dishes, its high-flavoured stews (in one well-known dish, combining pork and clams), its game and its extravagantly sweet desserts, rich with eggs. The first recipe is for what has become virtually a national dish: Caldo Verde, a simple but delicious potato soup enlivened with finely sliced greens. It was this soup which apparently prompted a British journalist to remark on the poverty of the Portuguese that forced them to make soup from grass. Edite Vieira provides a lively commentary that puts the food into its cultural and historical context--a number of the dishes are of great antiquity--and is an absolute delight to read. --Robin Davidson

Customer Reviews

Now you can try that dish you had in Lisbon at home!
This book has some of the most popular recipes from Portugal, in English and with a bit of history. Most of the unique dishes we tried while in Portugal are included with easy instructions and some background information on the dish. The only thing that would have made the book better is more pictures. It's a great small, inexpensive way to try to bring the taste you remember home with you.