Blogs from Paredes, Porto, Northern, Portugal, Europe

A recent trip to Paris Baguette, a newish French bakery in downtown Pleasant Hill, yielded a plethora of pastries and French delicacies. Among my favorites are the mochi donuts and the Pastel de Nata. From Eater Seattle: Pasteis (Pastel) de nata, also known as Portuguese egg tarts, were url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/portugal/articles/a-brief-introduction-to-pastel-de-nata-portuguese-custard-tartsinvented by monks at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon hundreds of years ago. At the time, monks and nuns used egg whites to starch their clothes (the past was a strange place), so they had a bunch of yolks lying around. Someone came up with the idea of putting egg custard in a pastry shell, sort of like a miniature pie, which is browned on top and sometimes sweetened with flavors like cinnam... read more

Here is the secret to eating in Portugal: Portugal’s cuisine has long resisted the encroachments of fusion or molecular gastronomy. Hearty to a fault, family-run restaurants churn out satisfying variants of bacalhau (salted cod), piri-piri chicken, and ultra-sweet cakes. Another reason, Portugal is relatively cheap, and we are told by travel experts and foodies to forget about counting calories here. Local wines are fairly priced, and very underrated. A word to the wise when dressing up for dinner: do not wear heels. Why? the hilly streets are steep, cobblestoned, and are known as "heel eaters" for lack of a better term. And dinner does not usuall... read more

Once upon a time, in a land not far away, I became a port wine sipper. Perhaps it was the golf trip to Portugal after 9-11 with my golf buddy, Mike. Or maybe it was the port gently washing down the dark chocolate in a family run bistro in Vilamoura. Whatever it was, the two of us chased down hardy and wholly, to find vintage bottles of port on the Algarve and beyond. It was a search where the journey was just as rewarding as the destination. How often can you say that? The proper terminology for port wine is Vinho do Porto, but commonly called Port. It is a fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern area of Portugal. Most of the time, it is ... read more