Portuguese food is a wonder. Not a modern wonder like a skyscraper or a bridge or a dam but more like an ancient wonder, the Pyramids for example, which is essentially a simple structure but which was conceived and constructed over time.
Portuguese cuisine has been centuries in the making and, most people would say, there is little room for innovation. The dishes are generally pretty basic but always well done. I will come back to this theme again and again because I have been wondering how to approach the subject of Portuguese food for a long time. Not only am I someone who loves and appreciates food on multiple levels (not just the taste but I appreciate the artistry that goes into it) but also because the Portuguese are unusually touchy when it comes to food.
Just as the weather is a constantly safe topic for conversation in Britain the same can be said for food here (as long as you are complimentary). The British have a strange relationship with food, working with people from all over Europe I am often subject to people deriding my national cuisine but I usually let it wash over me and let them enjoy their ignorance. What people don't realise is the huge variety on offer in Britain, both in terms of restaurants and for buying ingredients (in fact a Portuguese acquaintance of mine now living in London described Borough market as one of his favourite places). It only really hits home when you do move abroad.
The quality of Portuguese ingredients cannot be argued with, the meat, fish and vegetables are all of top top quality, fresh with lots of flavour. The only problem is that there aren't a lot of them. You're lucky in most supermarkets if you get a choice between more than 6 or 7 vegetables (and no, a potato isn't a vegetable), I'm exaggerating here but there is seriously nothing to compare with what we get in the UK. It's simply because most things are grown here, they import very little. This is great for taste but leaves you little option when it comes to dishes to cook (The same can be said of cuts of meat too).
This is the ultimate problem with Portuguese restaurants, 9 times out of 10, probably more the food will be great, huge portions and cooked well, but if you're here for long you just get a bit tired of the same 5 or 6 dishes on the menu everywhere (and I mean everywhere) - bacalhau à bras (or asado or whatever), secretos de porco, bitoque, etc.
I'll have to stop there as the purpose of this post really wasn't to whinge but actually praise and today I am in praise of something the Portuguese do very well...salty snacks.
One of the great Portuguese passtimes is sitting (or actually more usually standing) in the street, drinking beer, and watching/talking about football and they have two of the greatest aids for doing this: tremoços and pumpkin seeds. Tremoços are lupin seeds, stored in brine. many bars you go to will provide you with one glass of beer and one glass of tremoços and the method for eating them is to grasp betwixt forefinger and thumb, bite off a side of the tough outer skin and with finger and thumb pop the soft inside into the mouth. It's tasty and fun!
Pumpkin seeds are a rather newer discovery but I seriously cannot stop eating them. They're so so salty that you can't help but take a few big gulps of beer after them. You are ideally supposed to crack open the outer shells and only eat the seed inside but I just gobble down the lot and think of it as added fibre. My health I think is starting to suffer and I will have to start rationing myself but until I get my blood pressure checked I'm going to carry on eating them
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