portugal culinary retreat via millys-kitchen.com

Hello, friends!

I’m back with Day 4 in the Countdown to Portugal! For those of you just joining today:

Registration for my Portugal culinary retreat opens on Monday, June 27 at 10am PST

To celebrate (and to get you better acquainted with this wonderful country!) I’m posting to the blog all week about this hidden gem and why you need to mark your calendars and join me for 7 days of sun, wine, seafood and stunning views this October!

Here are links to Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 in case you missed them.

Today, I want to introduce you to the amazing food and wine Portugal has to offer.

The first time I landed in Portugal, I had zero expectations for the country’s cuisine. I was there for a photography workshop. I’d never heard anyone talk about Portuguese food before. How good can it be?, I thought. Hot damn was I wrong about that!

On that first trip, I fell head-over-heels in love with Portugal. I fell for its soft-ripened cheeses, which rival the best cheeses I’ve had in France. I fell for its smoky charcuterie--locally made Portuguese chorizo and linguiça are like nothing you’ve ever tasted before. I fell for its sultry wines. There’s a whole world of Portuguese wine beyond the lackluster vinho verdes that we get here in the US.

And the seafood! Portugal is a country that understands seafood. I live in a coastal city with a solid reputation for seafood, and yet the cod and octopus and clams and sardines I had in Portugal are the freshest and most delicious I’ve ever tasted.

Part of the beauty of Portugal is that many foods are still hyper-local and artisan-made. Few of these are exported outside the country. Which is why so many of us have never heard of them! It’s also why Portugal remains a food paradise, full of delightful, unexpected flavors.

To take you on a little tour of some of those flavors, I'm sharing a collection of articles and recipes from people who love Portuguese food as much as I do.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the full details of the Portugal culinary tour. See you then!

xo,

Olaiya