all the deliciousness that is portugal

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

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The Food I Dream Of. One writer's love letter to Alentejo, the sleepy Portuguese region whose rich, rustic foods hold her in thrall.

Image Todd Coleman for Saveur

The Ultimate User’s Guide to Portuguese Cheese

Image via CataVino

Portuguese Chicken

Image by Hans Gissinger for Bon Appetit

Codfish Ceviche with Sultanas and Dried Tomato

Image by Filipe Lucas Frazão

A Beginner's Guide to Portuguese Wine

Photograph via François Philipp/Flickr

My own Warm Potato, Kale and Octopus Salad with Chorizo Vinaigrette. This salad has all my favorite Portuguese flavors together in one bowl.

my favorite portuguese bloggers and makers

Image by Image by Sanda Vuckovic Pagaimo

Hello!

Today is day 3 in the Countdown to Portugal 2016! 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 share my love of Portugal with the world, 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’s a link to Day 1 and Day 2, in case you missed those posts.

Today, I want you to meet some of my favorite Portuguese bloggers and makers:

Image by Sanda Vuckovic Pagaimo

Image by Sanda Vuckovic Pagaimo

I have to start with my friend Sanda, to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude. Sanda is the creative force behind Little Upside Down Cake. She’s also a big part of the reason I fell in love with photography and with Portugal. After attending a food photography and styling workshop she organized a few years ago with Beth from Local Milk, I decided that a) photography was definitely for me and b) I had to find a way to come back to Portugal on a regular basis and share this amazing country with all of you! My Portugal culinary retreats are the direct result of meeting this talented lady.

Sanda’s generous spirit extends beyond sharing her culinary and photography skills; she’s also the person who introduced me to many of the places I love in Lisbon and all the other people on this page! She continues to be a huge inspiration and you should most definitely check out her work if you don’t know it already.

Image by Filipe Lucas Frazão

Next is my friend, Filipe. I met Filipe when he and his lovely wife Ana cooked a Portuguese feast for Sanda’s workshop. From the chorizo and preserved lemon bites to the herb-scented steamed clams to the creamy, savory octopus rice--I was hooked! Filipe is a fantastic cook. He also happens to be a talented writer and photographer. Dispatches from his blog and stunning instagram feed keep me inspired to create in the kitchen and dreaming of my next trip to Portugal!

Image by Nathalie Bicrel

Image by Nathalie Bicrel

I really wish my friend, Nathalie, lived closer to me. (Or maybe the other way around?) Her warm spirit, easy laugh and laid-back demeanor make her they type of friend I’m always thrilled to see. The fact that this French transplant graciously agrees to act as tour guide around her neighborhood in enchanting Cascais when I visit, makes her the very best kind of friend. Her blog, devoted to her explorations in Portugal and beyond, always reminds me to slow down and appreciate the beauty in front of me. Just the thing for a little Portugal daydreaming.

Image by Chelsea Fuss

I met Chelsea, the voice behind Frolic! at a dinner at Sanda’s house the last time I was in Portugal and immediately fell in love with her flower-filled blog. And the many Portugal snaps she posts to Instagram allow me pretend I’m walking the sunny streets of Lisbon every day. Check out her feed for a dose of daily life in Portugal’s capital city.

Image by Alice Bernardo

Image by Margarida Fernandes

I Insta-stalked Margarida and her subtle, organic ceramics long before we ever met in person. I’d seen her pieces in some of my favorite bloggers’ images and started following her in hopes of meeting this talented artist and adding some of her elegant pieces to my collection. When I did finally track down her light-filled studio on the edge of Lisbon, it was a joy to meet Margarida in person and watch her at work. My collection of Margarida Fabrica Ceramics grows every time I visit Lisbon and I can’t wait to check out her new studio in the fall!

Image by Sanda Vuckovic Pagaimo

In addition to being an incredibly talented jewelry maker, Ines is also a lovely human being. She has one of those luminous smiles that light up a room. Her warm spirit, attention to fine detail and love of her craft shine through in her work. Much of Ines’ jewelry is inspired by forms found in nature and each piece is made by hand in her Lisbon studio. Watching Ines shape a lifeless piece of metal into a graceful earring or necklace feels like a small feat of magic. 

I hope you find as much inspiration in the photography, writing, cooking and handcraft of these creative spirits as I do! Those of you who join me in Portugal this October will get to meet some of these talented people, learn more about what they do and experience a slice of their Portugal first-hand.

See you tomorrow for a post on why Portuguese food was a revelation for me!

xo,

Olaiya

P.S. If you’re not already signed up for my mailing list, click here for updates on all trips and events.

the sweet life, portuguese-style

Welcome to Day 2 of the Countdown to Portugal 2016! For anyone who missed yesterday’s post:

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

To celebrate and to familiarize you with one of my very favorite countries, I’m posting to the blog every day this week about why I’m crazy in love with Portugal! 

Today, I’m going to introduce you to the country’s rich, eggy traditional sweets. 

Before visiting Portugal, I’d never tasted pastries like these. Most of pastries and confections I’ve encountered in Portugal are based on the alchemy of egg yolks and sugar. These traditional Portuguese sweets are the result of two historical circumstances that collided in the 16th century: an influx of sugar from Portugal’s colonies and a large population of nuns using egg whites to starch their habits. Ever resourceful, the nuns combined the surplus yolks and newly abundant sugar to create many of the desserts still popular in Portugal today. 

And the names! I think the convents were trying to outdo each other with the originality of their sweets. We’ve got heavenly pillows (travesseiros), nun’s bellies (barrigas de freira), bacon from heaven (toucinho do céu) and angel’s cheeks (papos de anjo)--or angel’s breasts, depending on who you ask--just to name a few. 

Image via Wikipedia

The most well known Portuguese pastry (and one of my favorites) is the pastél de nata. The combination of a creamy, eggy filling nestled in a golden, crisp crust feels like comfort food no matter where you’re from. When I land in Portugal, one of the first things I do is head to my favorite pastelaria for a still-warm-from-the-oven pastél de nata and an espresso. These flaky little custard tarts + a strong cup of coffee = breakfast bliss! 

Another of my favorite Portuguese pastries is the pastél de Tentúgal. This is a cylinder of flaky phyllo-like dough filled with a rich egg cream. It’s brushed with butter, baked until puffed and golden brown, and dusted with powdered sugar. I became obsessed with these after tasting them on last year’s retreat. After much research, I created a version almost as good as the ones I tasted in Portugal. You can check out my recipe here. 

If you find yourself in Lisbon, you absolutely need to head to the 187-year-old Confeitaria Nacional and order yourself a pão de deus. This airy brioche with a layer of coconut custard under a golden, crisp coconut top is not to be missed.

When in Porto, make sure you include a stop at Leitaria da Quinta, who make one stunner of an eclair. It’s not a traditional convent sweet, but their classic eclair, stuffed full of lightly sweetened whipped cream and topped with a dark milk chocolate glaze, is ridiculously good.

And if you’ve made it that far, you might as well stop into neighboring Padaria Ribeiro, my favorite bakery in Porto. I am a huge fan of their bite-sized pastries. I’m going to be honest: I have no idea what most of them are. There are SO many. Some are sweeter than others. Some are filled with toasted coconut. Some with tart apple. Some with egg cream. But they’re always fantastic. I recommend pointing out several in the case that are calling your name, ordering one of their excellent espressos and taking a seat on their sunny patio to discover which you like best. 

I could go on for days about all the Portuguese sweets worth searching out. As you might have noticed, I’m on a MISSION to tell the world about the awesomeness that is Portugal! Many of its foods are still hyper-local and artisan-made. Few of them leave the country. Which means it’s a food paradise waiting to be explored. I'll be posting more on the wine and savory specialties of Portugal later this week, so stay tuned!

xo,

Olaiya

P.S. If you’re not already signed up for my mailing list, click here for updates on all trips and events.