Cooking Recipes and Gastronomical Information

Portuguese Cooking RecipesWith a splendid blend of the Mediterranean Iberian peninsula and the Atlantic Ocean – not to mention a grand colonial history – Portuguese cuisine places a heavy focus on seafood with a generous helping of international spice and style.

Bacalao
Portuguese salted codfish is a refined delicacy come from the strong rural culture that is celebrated with gusto. For such a commonly enjoyed food, there are many recipes out there. Here is the best.

Ingredients:
· 4 big onions sliced
· 4 pounds soaked and salted codfish
· 2 minced garlic cloves
· 12 tablespoons of butter
· 4 tablespoons bread crumbs
· 6 big potatoes
· 20 black olives
· 20 pitted green olives
· 1 cup freshly chopped parsley leaves
· 8 large eggs hard-cooked
· olive oil
· wine vinegar
· black pepper

Directions:
Submerge the dry codfish in cool water for an entire day, and make sure it is completely moist at the end of soaking – it is also important to periodically change the water. When beginning to cook in a pan, again submerge the codfish in cool water and boil briefly, then quickly reduce the heat so that the codfish is simmering for a quarter of an hour. At that point it’s ready to drain, de-bone and cut up into individual portions.

Prepare the sauce by first sautéing the onions to translucence and adding garlic to them. At the same time you should be boiling the potatoes, peeling them and slicing them into bite-sized chunks. Now is the time to pre-heat the oven to a temperature of 350 degrees then season and bake all the veggies and accoutrements, including the fish. Serve hot. Bon a petit!

Algarve, Portugal Broad Beans
The South in any country is typically a progenitor of delectable, ethnic food based on a strong agricultural and working class influence – it’s no different in Portugal, where Algarve locals cook up a storm and have left us with this fantastic meat and beans recipe:

Ingredients
· 300 grams of morcela
· 1600 grams of shelled broad beans
· 4 garlic cloves
· 300 grams of chouriço vermelho
· 600 grams of bacon
· olive oil
· 2 bunches of coriander, young garlic and onion bulbs

Directions:
Take the shells off the beans before thoroughly washing them. Pre-heat a pan with water, then boil the beans for about 7-10 minutes, before draining it then mincing the garlic, chopping the meat into small bits and strips, depending, and start sautéing only the garlic, then add the beans, while in a separate pan frying the meat. Once the meat is cooked add it in with the beans mixture and season. This will come out like thick, delicious and hearty southern cooking! Serves 8.