Portugal has been one of our favorite food stops on our trip so far. We have enjoyed everything about the food from the fresh and salt dried seafood to the delicious pastries. We had a chance to talk to Teresa from Lume Brando and got to dive a bit deeper into Portuguese cuisine.
Here is a bit more about Teresa:
How does food in Lisbon differ from the rest of Portugal? How is it similar? Are there any regional dishes specific to Lisbon?
I’m not from Lisbon… I live in the northern part of the country, near Porto, but Portugal is a small country. Although there are some typical dishes from different regions and cities, there are common recipes and ingredients that almost every Portuguese family and restaurant prepares, such as many cod recipes. Lisbon is famous for some cod specialties like cod patties (“pastéis de bacalhau” / “pataniscas de bacalhau”). Fish soup, Bulhão Pato clams and the well-known ‘pastéis de nata’ are also gastronomic ex-libris from Lisbon, but they can be found all over the country.
We are absolutely in love with pasteis de nata, can you tell us more about their origins? Which are your favorite?
As many Portuguese sweets and traditional pastry, ‘pastéis de nata’ (little tarts made with puff pastry and filled with an egg and cream custard) were created by religious people, in this case by priests or monks from Jerónimos Monastery in the 19th century. ‘Pastéis de Belém’ are the original and most famous ones, but I don’t think they’re the best… There are small bakeries all over the country that make really good ones. I like the petite version 😉
What kind of food trends are you seeing in Portugal these days?
Street food; organic ingredients, traditional/conventional Portuguese dishes with a modern twist.
What are some of your favorite traditional dishes? What are the “can’t miss” dishes to try?
I love cod fish with dark rustic bread crumble, made with lot of onions, garlic and olive oil (called ‘Bacalhau com Broa’; ‘Broa’ is a typical Portuguese bread). Once in Portugal, you can’t miss fresh fish dishes and traditional pork confections – we have delicious recipes for all the parts of the animal: nothing is wasted!
We really enjoyed all of the fresh sea food Portugal had to offer. Other than sea food, what is the interest/availability in healthier and/or vegetarian options?
Young people are getting each day more interested in alternative diets and new ingredients such as seeds and super-foods. Sometimes we see restaurants following the healthy way pop-up, but I think we still have a long way to go in order to have a consistent offer in really healthier and vegetarian options. Most vegetarian restaurants are still like boring college dining halls…
You have been blogging at lume-brando.blogspot.pt. What inspired you to share your love of food and start your blog?
I started blogging 10 years ago, when I was working as a copywriter in an advertising agency. Blogs were in their first stages. At that time a colleague of mine had just started his poetry blog and I though it was a good idea to create one about food and related matters – an issue that always had interested me. Also in the blog I could have freedom of speech, I could write without briefing limitations… I’ve got great cooks among my family and friends and talking about recipes and sharing them was always a hot topic at lunch time with my colleagues.
On a tour of Lisbon we heard about the sardine festivals in the Alfama neighborhood and throughout Portugal, can you tell us more about the sardine festivals? It’s sounds like we need to come back for that!
Sure you should come back! Grilled sardines (and fried very little ones) are an institution, also in Porto, especially in June, when we celebrate our ‘popular saint”, St. John. In Lisbon the celebrations are devoted to Saint Anthony. The narrow and twisted streets of Alfama become full of clumsy but charming terraces and charcoal grills. I’ve never been in Lisbon during the Sardine Festival, maybe we could go together! Meanwhile you should try our canned sardines and other canned Portuguese specialties, we’re damn good at that! You can find good stuff here in these stores/suppliers: Central Conserveira, Sol & Pesca.
Any cook book recommendations for trying our hand at Portuguese dishes?
With no doubt I’d recommend the Portuguese traditional dishes bible, written by Maria de Lurdes Modesto:
Traditional Portuguese Cooking
