Portugese Cuisine

Portuguese cuisine is characterised by rich, filling and full-flavoured dishes and is a prime example of a Mediterranean diet. The influence of Portugal's former colonial possessions is clear, especially in the wide variety of spices used. These include piri piri (small, fiery chilli peppers), as well as cinnamon, vanilla and saffron. There are also Arab and Moorish influences, especially in the south of the country. Olive oil is one of the bases of Portuguese cuisine both for cooking and flavouring meals. Garlic is widely used, as are herbs such as coriander and parsley.

Breakfast
Portuguese breakfasts often consist of fresh bread, with butter, cheese or fruit preserves accompanied with strong coffee or milk. Sweet pastries are also very popular, as well as breakfast cereals eaten cold and mixed with milk or yoghurt and fruit.

Fish and seafood
Bacalhau à minhota (one of the Portuguese bacalhau dishes)Portugal is a seafaring nation at heart and this is reflected in the amount of fish and seafood eaten. Fish is served grilled, boiled (including poached and simmered), fried or deep-fried, stewed (often in clay pot cooking) or even roasted. Foremost amongst these is bacalhau which means salted cod and is the type of fish most consumed in Portugal. It is said that there are more than 365 ways to cook cod, one for every day of the year. Cod is almost always used dried and salted because the Portuguese fishing tradition in the North Atlantic developed before the invention of refrigeration - therefore it needs to be soaked in water or sometimes milk before cooking. The simpler fish dishes are often flavoured with virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar.

Portugal has been fishing and trading Cod since the 15th century and this Cod trade has almost epic contours. Also popular are sardines (especially when grilled as sardinhas assadas), octopus, squid, cuttlefish, crabs, shrimp and prawns, lobster, spiny lobster, and many other crustaceans such as barnacles and goose barnacles, hake, horse mackerel (scad), lamprey, sea bass, scabbard (especially in Madeira) and a great variety of other fish and shellfish and molluscs, such as clams, mussels, oysters, periwinkles, and scallops. Caldeirada is a stew consisting of a variety of fish and shellfish with potatoes, tomato and onion.

Portuguese Lamprey rice.
Arroz de marisco (seafood rice)Sardines used to be preserved in brine for sale in rural areas. Later, sardine canneries developed all along the Portuguese coast. Ray fish is dried in the sun in Northern Portugal. Canned tuna is widely available in Continental Portugal. Tuna used to be plentiful in the waters of the Algarve. They were trapped in fixed nets when they passed the Portuguese southern coast to spawn in the Mediterranean, and again when they returned to the Atlantic. Portuguese writer Raul Brandão, in his book Os Pescadores has an almost epic description of the catch, as he tells how the tuna is hooked from the raised net into the boats, and how the fishermen would amuse themselves riding the larger fish around the net. Fresh tuna, however, is eaten in Madeira, where tuna steaks are an important item in local cuisine. Canned sardines or tuna, served with boiled potatoes and eggs, constitute a convenient meal when there is not time to prepare anything more elaborate.

Meat and Poultry
Cozido à portuguesaEating meat and poultry on a daily basis was historically a privilege of the upper classes. Meat was a staple at a nobleman's table during the Middle Ages. A Portuguese Renaissance chronicler, Garcia de Resende, describes how an entrée at a royal banquet was composed of a whole roasted ox garnished with a circle of chickens. A common Portuguese dish, mainly eaten in winter, is the cozido à portuguesa, which somewhat parallels the French pot au feu, the Spanish cocido, the New England boiled dinner or the Costa Rican casado. Its composition depends on the cook's imagination and budget. A really lavish cozido may take beef, pork, salt pork, several types of enchidos (such as cured chouriço, morcela and chouriço de sangue, Linguiça, Farinheira, etc.), pig's feet, cured ham, potatoes, carrots, turnips, chickpeas, cabbage and rice. This would be originally a favourite food of the affluent farmer, which later reached the tables of the urban bourgeoisie and typical restaurants.

Francesinha Tripas à moda do Porto, tripe with white beans, is said to have originated in the 14th century, when the Castilians laid siege to Lisbon and blockaded the Tagus entrance. Portuguese chronicler Fernão Lopes dramatically recounts how starvation spread all over the city. Food prices rose astronomically, and small boys would go to the former wheat market place in search of a few grains on the ground, which they would eagerly put in their mouths when found. Old and sick people, as well as prostitutes, in short anybody who would not be able to aid in the city's defense, were sent out to the Castilian camp, only to be returned to Lisbon by the invaders. It was at this point that the citizens of Porto decided to organize a supply fleet that managed to slip through the river blockade. Apparently, since all available meat was sent to the capital, for a while Porto residents were limited to tripe and other organs. Others claim that it was only in 1415 that Porto deprived itself of meat to supply the expedition that conquered the city of Ceuta, in North Africa. Whatever the case may be, since at least the 17th century to our days people from Porto have been known as tripeiros or tripe eaters. In addition, Porto region has a typical sandwich called francesinha. Another Portuguese dish with tripe is Dobrada.

Many other meat dishes are included in Portuguese cuisine. Alcatra, beef marinated in red wine and garlic and then roasted, is a traditional of Terceira Island in the Azores. In continental Portugal, alcatra, an Arabic word meaning piece or bit, refers only to a certain expensive meat cut. Carne de porco à alentejana, fried pork with clams, is a popular dish with a misleading name as it originated in the Algarve, not in Alentejo.

Portuguese chouriçosAlentejo is a vast, agricultural province, with only one sizable fishing port, Sines, and shellfish would not, in the past, reach the inland areas. On the other hand, all points in Algarve are relatively close to the coast and pigs used to be fed with fish. So clams were added to the fried pork to disguise the fishy taste of the meat. Nowadays, however, nobody would dare to call it carne de porco à algarvia. Legend also says that the dish was developed to test Jewish converts' new Christian faith; consisting of pork and shellfish (two non-kosher items), Marranos were expected to eat the dish in public in order to prove their complete detachment from the Jewish faith.

Botelo - The Portuguese steak, bife, is a slice of fried beef or pork served in a wine based sauce with fried potatoes, fried rice, or salad. To add a few more calories to this dish an egg, sunny side up, may be placed on top of the meat, in which case the dish acquires a new name, bife com um ovo a cavalo, steak with an egg on horseback. Iscas, fried liver, were a favourite request in old Lisbon taverns. Sometimes they were called iscas com elas, the elas referring to sautéed potatoes. Small beef or pork steaks in a roll (respectively pregos or bifanas) are popular snacks, often served at beer halls with a large mug of beer. In modern days, however, when time and economy demand their toll, a prego or bifana, eaten at a snack bar counter, may constitute the lunch of a white collar worker. Espetada, a sort of kebab, is very popular in Madeira.

Fried alheira Alheira, a yellowish sausage from Trás-os-Montes, served with fried potatoes and a fried egg, has an interesting story. In the late fifteenth century King Manuel of Portugal ordered all resident Jews to convert to Christianity or leave the country. The King did not really want to expel the Jews, who constituted the economic and professional élite of the kingdom, but was forced to do so by outside pressures. So, when the deadline arrived, he announced that no ships were available for those who refused conversion - the vast majority - and had men, women and children dragged to churches for a forced mass baptism. Obviously, most Jews maintained their religion secretly, but tried to show an image of being good Christians. Since avoiding pork was a tell-tale practice in the eyes of the Inquisition, converts devised a type of sausage that would give the appearance of being made with pork, but really only contained heavily spiced game and chicken. Nowadays, however, tradition has been broken, and pork has been added to the alheiras.

Favas com chouriço - Jewish influence may have determined some other practices in food preparation and eating habits. Different kinds of unleavened bread and cakes, such as the arrufadas de Coimbra, are baked throughout Continental Portugal and the Azores. In the islands, meat is often repeatedly rinsed in water to clean it of any trace of blood. After chickens are killed, they may be hung up upside down, so the blood may be drained, however, paradoxically, it can be used later for cabidela. Blood spilled on the ground is sometimes covered with dirt, as the passage in Leviticus directs Jews to do. Seafood without scales, such as morays, may be shunned in some areas. And, finally, a point is made of slaughtering animals with a very sharp knife, a practice also exhorted by rabbinical law.

Rojões à moda do Minho com arroz de sarrabulho - Poultry, easily raised around a peasant's home, was at first considered quality food. Turkeys were only eaten for Christmas or on special occasions such as wedding receptions or banquets. Up to the nineteen thirties, around Christmas time, the farmers from the outskirts of Lisbon would bring herds of turkeys to the city streets for sale. Before being killed, a stiff dose of brandy was forced down the birds' throats to make the meat more tender and tasty, and hopefully to ensure a happy state of mind when the time would come for the use of a sharp knife. Poor people ate chicken almost only when they were sick. Nowadays mass production in poultry farms makes these meats accessible to all classes. Thus bifes de Peru, turkey steaks, became a recent addition to Portuguese tables.

Cheese
There is a wide variety of Portuguese cheeses, especially made from goat's or sheep's milk, or both together. Usually these are very strong-flavoured and fragrant. In the Azores, there is a type of cheese made with cow's milk with a spicy taste (Queijo de São Jorge). Traditional Portuguese cuisine does not include cheese in its recipes, so it's eaten by itself before or after the main dishes. Other well known cheeses like Queijo de Azeitão, Queijo de Castelo Branco and Queijo da Serra da Estrela (D.O.P.) which is very strong in flavour, can be eaten soft or more matured. Serra da Estrela is handmade from fresh sheep milk and thistle-derived rennet.

Vegetables
Caldo verde - Vegetables that are popular in Portuguese cookery include tomatoes, cabbage, and onions. There are many starchy dishes, such as feijoada, a rich bean stew, and açorda, a thick bread-based casserole generally flavoured with garlic and coriander or seafood. Many dishes are served with salad usually made of tomato, lettuce, and onion flavoured with olive oil and vinegar. Potatoes are also extremely common in Portuguese cuisine, and rice is used more than in any other European cuisine[citation needed]. Soups made from a variety of vegetables are commonly available, one of the most popular being caldo verde, made from moderately thin potato purée, thinly chopped collard greens and slices of chouriço.


Drinks
Portuguese wine - A glass of tawny port. Wine (red, white and green) is the traditional Portuguese drink, Rosé being one of the most popular among foreigners but not very appreciated by Portuguese themselves. Vinho Verde, or green wine, is a specific kind of wine, which can be red, white or rosé, and is only produced in the northwest (Minho province). The term "green wine" does not refer to the colour of the drink but to the fact that this wine needs to be drunk "young". A green wine should be consumed as a new wine while a "maduro" wine usually can be consumed mature. Green wines are only produced in the north of Portugal and are usually slightly sparkling. Portuguese wine is of high quality and in the last years has been considered by specialists among the best in the world. Port wine is a fortified wine of distinct flavour produced in Douro normally served with desserts. Vinho da Madeira, is a regional wine produced in Madeira similar to sherry. From the distillation of grape wastes from wine production is made a variety of brandies (called aguardente, literally "burning water") which are very strong tasting. Typical liqueurs such as Licor Beirão and Ginjinha are very popular alcoholic beverages in Portugal.

Desserts
Rice pudding (arroz doce) in a typical Christmas meal, in Portugal. The Portuguese enjoy rich egg-based desserts. These are often seasoned with spices such as cinnamon and vanilla. Perhaps most popular is leite-creme (a set egg custard). Also popular is arroz doce (a typical and popular rice pudding, a must in Christmas time parties), although aletria (a similar dish this time based upon a kind of vermicelli), is common. These are often decorated with elaborate stencilled patterns of cinnamon powder. Other custards include pudim flan. Cakes and pastries are also very popular. Most towns have a local speciality, usually egg or cream based pastry. Originally from Lisbon, but popular nationwide, as well as among the diaspora, are pastéis de nata. These are small, extremely rich custard tarts. In the south specially in the Algarve region, many recipes include almonds and marzipan.

Influences on world cuisine
Pork vindalho, in a Goan restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal formerly had a large empire, and the cuisine has been influenced in both directions. The Portuguese influence is strongly evident in Brazilian cuisine, which features its own versions of Portuguese dishes such as feijoada and caldeirada (fish stew). Other former colonies include the Indian province of Goa, where dishes such as vindaloo show the Portuguese influence in its pairing of vinegar and garlic.

The typical Portuguese feijoada à transmontana influenced the cuisine of other territories of the former Portuguese Empire, where the feijoada is a main dish. Portuguese trade ships reached Japan in around 1550. Japanese lords enjoyed Portuguese confectionery. It was remodelled as Kompeito and Kasutera, and influenced Wagashi. Tempura was introduced to Japan in the mid-sixteenth century by early Portuguese visitors. The word tempura may be derived from the Portuguese noun tempero, meaning a condiment or seasoning, or from the verb temperar, meaning "to season". Additionally, Portuguese immigrants influenced the cuisine of Hawaii and parts of New England. Portuguese sweet bread or pão doce, malasadas, bean soup (sopa de feijão), and sausages (linguiça, chorizo) are eaten regularly in the Hawaiian islands by families of all ethnicities.

In Australia, variants of 'Portuguese style' chicken, sold principally in fast food outlets, have become extremely popular in the last two decades. Offerings include conventional chicken dishes, as well as a variety of burgers. It would appear that in some cases, such as 'Portuguese chicken sandwiches,' the dishes offered bear only a loose connection to Portuguese cuisine and the connection is made simply as a marketing technique.

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Palestinian Cuisine

Palestinian cuisine consists of foods from or commonly eaten by the Arabs of historical Palestine — which includes those living in the Palestinian territories, Israel, refugee camps in nearby countries as well as by Palestinians living abroad. The cuisine is a diffusion of the cultures of civilizations that settled in Palestine, particularly during and after the Islamic era beginning with the Arab Ummayad conquest, then the eventual Persian-influenced Abbasids and ending with the coming of the Ottoman Turks. It is similar to other Levantine cuisines, including Lebanese, Syrian, and Jordanian.

Palestinians eat several times during the day, with lunch being the largest meal. Olive oil is widely used in Palestinian cuisine. Cooking styles vary by region and each type of cooking style and the ingredients used are generally based on the climate and location of the particular region and on traditions. Rice and variations of kibbee are common in the Galilee, the West Bank engages primarily in heavier meals involving the use of taboon bread, rice and meat and Gaza's inhabitants frequent fish, seafood, chili peppers and lentils. Meals are usually eaten in the household but, dining out has become prominent particularly, during parties where light meals like salads, bread dips and skewered meats are served.

The area is also home to many desserts, ranging from those made daily or regularly and those that are commonly reserved for the holidays. Most Palestinian sweets are pastries filled with either sweetened cheeses, dates or various nuts such as almonds, walnuts or pistachios. Beverages could also depend on holidays such as during Ramadan, where carob, tamarind and apricot juices are consumed at daybreak. Coffee is consumed throughout the day and liquor is not very prevalent amongst the population, however, some alcoholic beverages such as arak or beer are frequented by Christians and less conservative Muslims.

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Greek Cuisine

The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek food is olive oil, which is present in almost every dish. It is produced from the trees prominent throughout the region, and adds to the distinctive taste of Greek food. The basic grain in Greece is wheat, though barley is also grown. Important vegetables include tomato, aubergine, potato, green beans, okra, green peppers, and onions. Honey in Greece is mainly flower-honey from the nectar of fruit and citrus trees (lemon, orange, bigarade trees), thyme honey, and pine honey from conifer trees. Mastic is grown on the Aegean island of Chios.

Greek cuisine uses some flavourings more often than other Mediterranean cuisines do: oregano rigani, mint dhiosmo, garlic, onion, dill, salt, and bay laurel leaves. Other common herbs and spices include basil, thyme and fennel seed. Many Greek recipes, especially in the northern parts of the country, use "sweet" spices in combination with meat, for example cinnamon and cloves in stews. Greek flavour is often characterised by the use of mint and nutmeg. Other typical ingredients are lamb, pork, kalamata olives, feta cheese, grape leaves, zucchini and yogurt. The desserts are dominated by nuts and honey.

The terrain has tended to favour the breeding of goats and sheep over cattle, and thus beef dishes are more rare. Fish dishes are also common, especially in coastal regions and on the islands. A great variety of cheese types are used in Greek cuisine, including Feta, Kasseri, Kefalotyri, Graviera, Anthotyros, Manouri, Metsovone and Mizithra. Some dishes use phyllo pastry.

Too much refinement is generally considered to be against the hearty spirit of the Greek cuisine, though recent trends among Greek culinary circles tend to favour a somewhat more refined approach. Typical Greek food is simple, colorful and packed with robust flavours. Many dishes show influences from the Greek past, having a distinctive style of their own which has not changed much over the years. Greek cuisine has a long tradition of fine cooking and the full range of Greek dishes usually remains undiscovered by the tourist.

Origins
Dolmathes, the famous stuffed grapevine leavesContemporary Greek cookery is typical of Mediterranean cuisine, making wide use of olive oil, grains and bread, wine, fish, and various meats, including poultry and rabbit. Greece has an ancient culinary tradition dating back several millennia, and over the centuries Greek cuisine has evolved and absorbed numerous influences and influenced many cuisines.

Legend has it that Klephtico (or Kleftiko) slow cooked lamb (or other meat) can be translated as 'stolen meat'. The Klephts, not having flocks of their own, would steal lambs or goats and cook the meat in a sealed pit to avoid the smoke being seen.

Some dishes can be traced back to ancient Greece: trahanas, skordalia, lentil soup, retsina, pasteli; some to the Hellenistic and Roman periods: loukaniko; and Byzantium: feta cheese, avgotaraho, paximadi. There are also many ancient and Byzantine preparations which are no longer consumed: porridge as the main staple, fish sauce nuc mam, salt water mixed into wine, etc.

Many dishes' names come from the Ottoman cuisine tradition and their names reveal Arabic, Persian or Turkish roots such as moussakas, baklavas, tzatziki, yuvarelakia, keftethes. Many dishes' names probably entered the Greek vocabulary during Ottoman times, but there was earlier contact with the Persians and the Arabs. Some dishes may be pre-Ottoman, only taking Turkish names later; Ash and Dalby, for example, speculate that grape-leaf dolmathes were made by the early Byzantine period.

A few dishes are influenced by Venetian (Italian) cuisine, such as pastitsio, makaronia me kima, though pasta with meat together is considered in culinary circles as an "eastern" tradition, found mostly in Greece and Anatolia and Asia Minor and regions of that influence.

Recently, fast-food has also become more popular in Greece and Europe, with local chains such as Goody's springing up. Although fast food is gaining popularity and many major fast-food chains have opened all over Greece, the Greek people still rely primarily on the rich and extensive dishes of the Greek cuisine. In addition, some traditional Greek foods, especially souvlaki, gyros, pita/pites, for example tiropita and spanakopita (savory or sweet stuffed phyllo dough) are often served in fast food style.

Dining out has always been common in Greece. The Taverna and Estiatorio are widespread, serving traditional Greek home cooking at affordable prices to both locals and tourists.

Typical dishes
As mentioned above, Greek cuisine is very diverse and although there are many common characteristics amongst the culinary traditions of different regions within the country, there are also many differences, making it difficult to present a full list of representative dishes. Just to give an example, the vegetarian dish " Haniotiko Mpoureki" (oven baked slices of potatoes with zucchini, myzithra cheese and mint) is a typical dish in the region of Chania (western Crete), which a family may consume 1-2 times per week in the summer season. However, it is not cooked in any other region of Greece.

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SIMON LEACH - handling & finishing the olive oil jar

Lebanese Cuisine

Lebanese Cuisine (or foods from Lebanon) consists of a variety of fresh vegetarian recipes, salads and stews all seasoned with a flavorsome combination of herbs and spices. One of the most world known Lebanese specialties is called the Maza, also written "Mezze", which is a selection of appetisers: olives, cheeses, Labanee, or small portions also known as muqabbilat (starters).

The food of Lebanon is the epitome of the Mediterranean diet. It includes an abundance of starches, fruits, vegetables, fresh fish and seafood; animal fats are consumed sparingly. Poultry is eaten more often than red meat, and when red meat is eaten it is usually lamb. It also includes copious amounts of garlic and olive oil, often seasoned by lemon juice. No a meal goes by in Lebanon that does not include these ingredients. Most often foods are either grilled, baked or sautéed in olive oil; butter or cream is rarely used other than in a few desserts. Vegetables are often eaten raw or pickled as well as cooked. While the cuisine of Lebanon doesn't boast an entire repertoire of sauces, it focuses on herbs, spices and the freshness of ingredients; the assortment of dishes and combinations are almost limitless. The meals are full of robust, earthy flavors and, like most Mediterranean countries, much of what the Lebanese eat is dictated by the seasons.

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