Portuguese Home Cooking

Book excerpt: Authentic recipes that unlock the mysteries of Portuguese Cooking The Mediterranean diet is famed for its fresh and vibrant cuisine. In this book, Ana Patuleia Ortins invites you to discover or revisit the soul-comforting, peasant food of Portugal, just as vibrant, yet distinct from that of its neighbors. Peppered with a lifetime of anecdotes from a passionate cook, Portuguese Home Cooking draws us into an immigrant kitchen where traditional culinary methods were handed down from father to daughter, shared and refined with the help of the family and friends who watched, chopped, and tasted. The recipes in this cookbook are of dishes prepared as they are in Portugal—with the measurements tried and tested, and the ingredients and methods fully explained. With warmth and gusto, Ana Patuleia Ortins shares garden-fresh salads, hearty wine and garlic braises, legumes and leafy greens, meat and shellfish dishes, rustic breads, and the luscious desserts for which Portugal is known. Beautiful food and location photography will transport you to Portugal's picturesque countryside, and novices and experienced chefs alike will delight in the culture and cuisine, whether nostalgic for home, or discovering it for the first time.