My Americana.

It was hot. Very hot and very humid. In those dog days of summer at Dad's house, we would turn on the one air conditioner window unit we had downstairs and pretty much camp out down there. I can remember Wimbledon playing on the tiny TV that traveled around to whichever room my dad, barefoot wearing cut-off denim shorts and a perfectly worn in red Adidas t-shirt, was situated in. In the kitchen, also barefoot, with the back door open the sound of the cicadas and the smell of the 30% chance of afternoon thunderstorms through the screen door, I would be standing over the sink with a tomato sandwich in my hands and the magical mixture of salty mayonnaise and the seedy, juicy mess of the perfectly sweet and ripe tomato running down my face and wrists.

After wiping my face with the back of my hand and throwing on some flip flops, I would run out the front door to meet up with neighborhood friends and roam around streets, parks, alleys or the river until the light began to shift, the cicadas got ear-piercingly louder, and the fireflies began to light up the dusk, signifying the end of our day. All of us kids, with our hands and feet brownish-black, covered with dirt and muck, would scurry home for baths and dinner. And in those beautiful, nasty, hot, humid dog days of summer, the deep red, ripe tomatoes would most assuredly be on the plate at dinnertime as well. Perhaps served in chunks with some raw sweet corn kernels, in a mixed salad or most often, simply thickly sliced and generously sprinkled with salt and pepper.

I couldn't tell you my favorite color. I couldn't tell you my favorite ice cream flavor or my favorite band. Shockingly, I couldn't even tell you my favorite dish or meal, though sea urchin and extra salty movie theater popcorn would invariably be in the running (but not together). But I can tell you this: the tomato is my favorite food. I will eat a tomato any way it can possibly be made to exist, even in jam form. And unlike my dad, if I'm desperate, I will even eat a wintery, mealy out of season tomato. I just can't turn one away.

The perfect tomato – at least in Virginia - is a singular yet fleeting experience. Its prime season is short and very sweet. Even after spending more than a decade in Southern California, with its vast array of year-round beautiful and amazing produce, I never came across a tomato to rival the ones in Virginia in July and August.

It's 4^th of July weekend – America's birthday – which harks to a lot of tradition and nostalgia for many of us. With all of our senses: smells, sounds, textures, sights and tastes in overdrive, we think of apple pies cooling on the windowsill, hot dogs and hamburgers sizzling on the grill, baseball, parades, picnics on the grass, music and fireworks. But for me, my Americana, though it can and does include those things, is really that tomato sandwich and its gorgeous juicy mess running down my face and wrists as I triumphantly devour it over the kitchen sink as the cicadas sing and I can smell the 30% chance of afternoon thunderstorms just outside the screen door. 

The Perfect Tomato Sandwich

Makes 2 sandwiches

The perfect, transcendent tomato sandwich is so extraordinarily simple that it requires considerable restraint to not mess it up, to not gild the lily. There is a place and time to add the avocado or to toast the bread - or to even go full BLT - but that is a different thing entirely. For the sandwich I speak of you will need only five things and napkins and plates are not on the list.

Ingredients:

4 slices of soft, white bread

1 large, perfectly ripe tomato, sliced about 1/4” thick (the quality of the tomato is 99.9% of what makes this sandwich great, so select yours wisely)

Duke's mayonnaise

Salt & pepper (no need for the fancy stuff)

Directions:

Go ahead and be decadent with the mayo. Smear it liberally on each piece of bread. 

For that matter, go ahead and be decadent with the salt and pepper as well. Salt and pepper each slice of the mayo-laden bread.

Ideally the tomato is large enough that you will only need one, maybe two slices for the whole sandwich. Put the tomato on one side of the bread and place the other piece of bread on top.

The mayo and the juices of the tomato will quickly create a beautiful pink, milky liquid that renders the sandwich a drippy, wet mess. Embrace the mess but eat fast and deftly - I suggest over the sink. While the last bite is still in your mouth, slurp juices off hands, wipe face with back of now 'clean' hands and promptly run outside to play with your friends.

Printable recipe. 

One year ago: Fig, Peach & Mascarpone Tart

Two years ago: Sausage, Egg & Fontina Cheese Pizza

Three years ago: Yerp: Part 4 - Les Sentiers Gourmands

Four years ago: Summer Squash Gratin with Salsa Verde

Five years ago: Pimiento Cheese

The Legend of Jammin' Raku

I have wanted to publicly share the story of Jammin' Raku going on a solid fifteen years - waiting semi-patiently for just the right time and place. And I've found it with my first Fathers' Day back home with my dad. So he can berate me in person once he reads it.

This story began back in the mid-nineties - an era where I primarily listened to and consumed all things hip hop. I was living in Atlanta at the time, and vividly remember the phone call from Dad asking, rather excitedly, if I had heard “the new, hip rapper, Jammin' Raku.”

As my eyes rolled out of my head and down the block, I replied that I had not.

“Well, you would love him,” he told me. I was dubious to say the least. I thought I was extremely cool – cutting edge, even, with my musical tastes. Considering I was listening to Organized Konfusion and my dad, Alison Krauss, well, that kind of nailed it for me. Let's just say I didn't exactly follow up on the Jammin' Raku tip.

Some time passed, a few months or so, and Dad came to visit in Atlanta. “So did you ever find that Jammin' Raku I was telling you about? No? Well, I'm really surprised. He's really hip right now and I know you'd love him.” During his visit he would ask my various friends if they had heard of the hip, new rapper, Jammin' Raku to no avail. Then, much to my horror, he wanted to go to the local record store to get to the bottom of the mystery. I'm sure you've read or seen High Fidelity? Criminal Records was like that. I never went in not knowing what I was looking for and I certainly never went in if I was going to buy anything less than cooler than cool.

I hustled Dad straight to the hip hop section to look under the Js. Nothing. Then the Rs nothing. Then that sinking feeling when I heard him say, “Well, let's just ask someone who works here.” After my dad, quite audibly (and, in my opinion, shamelessly) asked a staff member behind the counter (the back of the counter was elevated about two or three feet so that the staff literally looked down at you) about the new, hip rapper, Jammin' Raku. With no results, we moved on. But not before I bought an actual new, 'hip' album that I thought would redeem me from that excruciatingly uncool moment.

I thought the matter was dropped.

About a year later, I was visiting Richmond and having lunch with my dad when I heard those words again: “So did you ever find anything out about that rapper, Jammin' Raku?” If only the three little letters existed together then – OMG.

“No, Dad,” I said, and tried desperately to change the subject. “Well, let's just drop into the record store here and try one last time. I swear you'll thank me. This guy is right up your alley.” So, of course the record store he was referring to was essentially right up there with the one in Atlanta on the High Fidelity cooler-than-thou scale. Christ, I had spent my entire youth trying to establish my coolness with the staff there, going as far as wearing my Gwar-blood-covered white v-neck tee shirts whilst perusing Fishbone vinyl throughout high school. I still had a crush on a boy that worked there!

Do I even need to tell you that it was the exact same story as in Atlanta the year before? I was even more mortified that even IF there was a new, hip rapper, Jammin' Raku, he couldn't possibly still be new or hip an entire year later.

Once again, I thought the matter was dropped.

Back in Atlanta, another six months or so passed when I received a care package from Dad. With a CD in it. There was also a note: “This is the guy I've been trying to tell you about!”

I looked down at the stark white CD with a silhouette of a cartoonish figure of a man in the familiar large, fuzzy hat with horns. No, not new, not hip (sorry Dad), and certainly not a rapper. Jammin' Raku?

It was Jamiroquai.

That's my dad. And that's the story of Jammin' Raku.

And today is Father's Day. The first Father's Day I have been able to actually spend with my dad since before the Legend of Jammin' Raku. So we are going to do lots of stuff together. With Fred, too. One of the events is, of course, cooking.

From left: Dad, Janie & Uncle Doug

For a long time now I have been hearing about my dad's favorite meal that his mother, Janie, used to prepare. She made it for the whole family often, but when Dad first came back come from the Navy to visit and she served it, he told her it was his favorite of all meals. She then made it for him every single time he came home.

It's pretty weird sounding and has a host of seemingly disparate layers together on a plate: green beans (snap beans) with pinto beans cooked forever with ham hocks, fresh creamed sweet corn, cucumber and green onion salad in iced vinegar, thick slices of ripe tomatoes and cornbread. Oddly, I have never been served this meal. I sort of thought it was a myth, actually. It's verysouthern and very summer.

Over lunch with my dad and his brother, my Uncle Pat, recently, the two of them chatted about this meal. Pat remembers it well. He ate his with all of the components on the plate together but separated. My dad liked to pile everything on top of everything, in his own special order, in the form of a gloppy strata. This meal was always served with the sweetest of iced tea.

So, tonight, on this momentous Father's Day reunited with my dad, back in the south and knocking on summer's door, we will have his Favorite Meal. I will get to hear wonderful stories of his childhood, family and Janie while we chop and stir and eat.

And maybe we will listen to some of that new, hip rapper, Jammin' Raku's music, too.

~~~~~~~~~~

I love you so much Dad. You have always been and still are my hero. I couldn't be happier to be spending this day with you again. Happy Father's Day.

Janie's Summer Harvest

This meal was probably so frequently seen on the dinner table in the summer months because Janie, and I imagine many southern cooks, could harvest nearly all of the ingredients in her backyard garden. The entire meal is compiled essentially of five side dishes. Serve them family style and plate them separately or, like my dad, all piled on top of one another (from bottom: green beans, creamed corn, cucumber salad, tomatoes and then cornbread).

Let me add that all dishes are heavily salted and peppered.

Everything serves 4

Green Beans with Ham

Ingredients

1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed & rinsed

1/2 pound of pinto or cranberry beans soaked

4 cups water

1/4 pound diced salt pork or 1 ham hock

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Put water in a 2-quart saucepan; add pintos and diced salt pork. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add green beans, salt, and pepper; cover and cook green beans over medium heat for about 45 minutes, or until green beans are tender.

~~~~~~~~~~

Creamed Corn

Ingredients

8 ears of corn

1 1/2 cup of whole milk

2 tablespoons butter

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

In a large saucepan, melt butter on medium heat.

Remove the kernels from the corn. Stand a corn cob vertically on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, use long, downward strokes of the knife to remove the kernels from the cob. Add corn to saucepan. Use the edge of a spoon to scrape the sides of the cob to remove any remaining pulp into saucepan.

Add milk and bring to a low simmer, reduce heat and cover. Cook for 30 minutes until the corn is tender.

Salt & pepper to taste.

~~~~~~~~~~

Cucumber & Spring Onion Salad

Ingredients

1-1 ½ cucumber, peeled and sliced

1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and cut in half width-wise

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup of ice cubes

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Toss cucumber, onion, vinegar and ice cubes in a bowl and let sit until well chilled. Salt and pepper to taste.

~~~~~~~~~~

Thick Sliced Ripe Tomatoes with Salt and Pepper

Ingredients

3 large, ripe tomatoes

Salt & pepper taste

Directions

Slice tomatoes about 1/4” thick

Arrange on plate and salt & pepper to taste.

~~~~~~~~~~

Classic Skillet Cornbread

(recipe adapted from Deep South Dish)

Ingredients

1/4 cup of oil, shortening or bacon fat

1-1/2 cups of all purpose white or yellow cornmeal

3 tablespoons of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

2 cups of buttermilk, more or less

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Add the fat to a well seasoned 10-inch cast iron skillet and place the skillet into the oven to melt the fat and heat the skillet. In a bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Remove the skillet from the oven and swirl the hot fat around to coat the skillet.

Pour the fat from the skillet into the cornmeal mixture; stir. Stir in half of the buttermilk and add the egg; add more buttermilk as needed to make a thick but pourable batter. Depending on the grind of your cornmeal and the type of buttermilk you use, you may not need it all. Fold ingredients and don't beat the batter. Pour the cornmeal mixture into the hot skillet. Place directly into the oven and bake at 450 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the skillet from the oven, let rest for 5 minutes, then very carefully turn the cornbread out onto a plate or platter to preserve the crust.

Printable recipe.

One year ago: Double-Dipped Buttermilk & Chile Vinegar Fried Chicken

One year ago: Fresh Mint & Chip Ice Cream

Two years ago: An Evening in Gruissan.

Three years ago: Shiso Leaf Butter

For Those About to Cook, I Salute You.

I've been at this blogging thing for six and a half years now, and it's been good to me. It began as a whim and, yes, my timing was pretty perfect. The whole food blogging thing was becoming... a thing. I didn't know anything about blogging, or even what the word meant exactly. I knew I loved food. I loved to think about it, talk about it, read about it, make it, eat it and share it. My friends couldn't help but notice the interest-turned-obsession and one in particular urged me to start what has become F for Food.

I read many other blogs and have become enmeshed in the blogging community. Many of my closest friends, even now, are fellow food bloggers. There are quite a few different flavors of us: the restaurant bloggers and the recipe bloggers are the two broadest groups. I fall more into the recipe category with the occasional restaurant discussion. Some of us recipe bloggers like to flex creative writing and storytelling with our recipes and some write the straight dope about the recipes, the seasonality, the use of ingredients. Again, I fall more into the creative writing/storytelling camp, with some dialogue about The Food.

For the dishes I share on F for Food, I use some of my very own brainflowers, but I also pool from the world-wide world of recipes; cookbooks, online references and, often, other bloggers. I frequently read a recipe that I find alluring and then riff on it in my kitchen. If it works, I will likely share the results. I often tell the story of how I found the recipe and from whom it originated. I have written consistently about Alice Waters, Marion Cunningham, Suzanne Goin, Melissa Clark and Molly Wizenberg(funny, all women) to name a few - their food, and their influence on my own. Usually in the paragraphs leading up to the actual recipe.

In some instances, Fred and I create a dish from nothing and then research to see who has also created the same dish, or something similar, in the past to use as a recipe model. As it would appear, very little is truly original or not inspired by something that has already been thrust into the world.

Here's what I have not done. I have not properly transformed the instructional parts of the recipes. And more importantly, in the proper instances, I have not placed the attribution under the title of the recipe – resulting in not giving credit where credit is due. For example, when I rambled on about hearing an episode of The Splendid Table where Melissa Clark tells the beautiful memory of her childhood and the pan bagnat (though I included hyperlinks to both The Splendid Table episode and Melissa Clark), I did not type 'adapted from a recipe by Melissa Clark'at the top of the recipe.

First, I would like to apologize for this oversight and, second, let you know that I am in the process of going back through the archives of F for Food to make certain the appropriate due credit is given. I have nothing but respect and admiration for chefs, food lovers and recipe creators of all kinds. My blog began as, and continues to be, a testament to my reverence, love and appreciation of everything about food and those who feel the same way that have come before me, are here now and those who will pave the yellow pound cake road of the future.

So this is Memorial Day weekend. Let's go outside, drink cold adult beverages by a body of water of some kind and eat some sort of thing from a grill – or, in my preganant-self's case, enjoy some cold, refreshing popsicles in my back yard with Fred. Let's all get to it, shall we?

Watermelon-Mint Popsicles with Lime

(This recipe is a Fred + Elliott original)

Makes 10 popsicles

Ingredients

4 cups of watermelon cut into 1-inch cubes, plus 1 cup 1/4-inch cubes (seeds removed)

3 tablespoons chopped mint leaves, tightly packed

Zest & juice of 1 lime

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

Directions

Puree 1-inch cubes of watermelon & run through sieve into medium bowl. 

Muddle mint & sugar together, add to watermelon liquid along with lime zest & juice. Stir well. 

Refrigerate mixture for about 30 minutes to allow sugar to melt and let flavors infuse. 

Divide the 1/4-inch watermelon cubes evenly between the 10 sections of the popsicle mold, then using a pitcher with a spout, carefully fill molds, leaving about 1/4-inch of room at the top as the popsicles will expand as they freeze. 

Insert popsicle sticks and freeze away (approximately 3-5 hours, depending on your freezer). If you are using wooden popsicle sticks and your mold does not have a guide, freeze for 1 hour and then insert the sticks.

*FYI - We used this type of popsicle mold.

Printable recipe.

One year ago: Chilled Beet Soup with Horseradish Yogurt

Two years ago: Classic Shad Roe with Bacon & Fresh Herbs

Four years ago: Sautéed Baby Artichokes with Olive Oil, Garlic & Lemon

How To Embrace Your Inner Foodie On A Central Florida Vacation

A Central Florida vacation offers visitors warm, tropical weather, pristine beaches, dozens of theme parks, gorgeous natural landscapes and a plethora of fun and exciting activities for families, couples and tourists of all ages. However, among the many things to do in Central Florida, Polk Country also provides travelers an ideal location for those looking to indulge in exceptional dining experiences while in the area.

Come Hungry On A Central Florida Vacation

According to the Travel Industry Association of America's Profile of Culinary Travelers, traveling foodies have noted that experiencing regional and local cuisines while on holiday tops the list of reasons for participating in culinary travel. Of this demographic, a large percentage wants to learn about the local cuisine culture as well as sample regional flavors and specialties.

These roaming gourmets will certainly hit pay dirt in Polk County. With an endless array of award winning restaurants, bistros and cafes in the vicinity, a vacation to this region is sure to satisfy the appetite, craving or palette of even the finickiest food connoisseur. From casual fare to high end fine dining, Polk County has it all.

Where To Eat On A Central Florida Vacation

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so don't skip it while on your vacation. Check out places like Cypress Caf, Fred's Southern Kitchen, Sugar Bakery and Sandwiches and Camille's Sidewalk Caf. All located in Polk County, these places provide both an excellent cross section of regional flavors as well as a great way to start to your day.

For those looking for a refined noontime meal, try the Tearoom at the Stanford Inn. Located in Bartow, this bed and breakfast serves diners an assortment of soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts set in an original turn of the century Victorian home. For a spicier lunchtime treat, journey over to Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant in Lakeland. Enjoy authentic south of the border foods in this casual and inviting establishment. Lang's Taste of Florida Caf or the Lavender & Lace Tearoom, both located in Lake Alfred, are also great places to satiate those midday hunger pangs. Lang's Taste of Florida Caf is also known for their well-known dessert called Grapefruit Pie - if you're a dessert lover, this specialty is not to be missed!

Visitors seeking a succulent evening dining experience will also find they have a diverse and delicious array of options on their Central Florida vacation. Norby's Steaks and Seafood in Lake Wales boasts some of the best steaks in the area. For seafood lovers, Gary's Oyster Bar and Seafood House in Lake Alfred, known as the longest running oyster bar in Polk County, offers patrons both raw and perfectly cooked meals. The Terrace Grill in Lakeland's historic Terrace Hotel offers fine dining with 1920's charm. For fare with a more European flair, Mario's Italian Restaurant in Lakeland serves up quality Mediterranean cuisines in a fine dining atmosphere.

Other exceptional choices for regional tastes include Harry's Old Place, Sundown Southern Eatery, both located in Winter Haven, as well as Cherry Pocket Steak and Seafood Shak, Chalet Suzanne Country Inn and Restaurant and Festival Steak and Seafood all in the Lake Wales region.

With so many fabulous places to choose from, adding a culinary tour to the list of things to do in Central Florida will prove an easy feat!

Portuguese Food and Cuisine

Briony Stephenson introduces the hidden delights of Portuguese cuisine.

Despite the abiding access it has had on aliment in such far-away places as Macau and Goa, Portuguese cuisine is badly underrepresented alfresco Portugal. Generally abashed with Spanish cooking, it is, in fact, absolutely distinct. At its best, Portuguese aliment is simple capacity impeccably prepared. Based on bounded produce, emphasising fish, meat, olive oil, tomato, and spices, it appearance affable soups, bootleg aliment and cheeses, as able-bodied as abrupt combinations of meat and shellfish.

For a almost baby nation, Portugal has hasty gastronomic variety. The Estremadura region, which includes Lisbon, is acclaimed for its seafood - the angle bazaar at Cascais, just alfresco the capital, is one of the better in the country - while the assembly of sausages and cheese abroad adds addition ambit to the civic cuisine. The Algarve, the endure arena of Portugal to accomplish ability from the Moors, and anchored on North Africa's doorstep, contributes a centuries-old attitude of almond and fig sweets.

Traditional Portuguese aliment is embodied by fish.Indeed, the Portuguese accept a continued history of arresting comestible traditions from added peoples. The age of analysis was propelled by the admiration for alien spices and anytime back Vasco da Gama apparent the sea avenue to India at the about-face of the sixteenth century, they accept accepted awfully popular. Peri-peri, a Brazilian aroma crude to the above African colonies is acclimated to flavour craven and shrimp. Back-scratch spices from Goa are accepted seasonings. These spices are about acclimated actual sparingly, abacus attenuate flavour and abyss to dishes. It is these influences that accept helped accomplish Portuguese aliment so clearly altered from that of added Mediterranean countries and in Lisbon today there are array of restaurants specialising in the cuisines of the old authority as able-bodied as Brazilian-style abstract bars, alms drinks and ice-cream fabricated from alien fruits.

If there is one activity that typifies acceptable Portuguese food, however, it is fish. From the accepted anchovy to swordfish, sole, sea bream, bass and salmon, markets and airheaded acknowledge the abounding admeasurement of Portugal's adulation activity with seafood. In Portugal, even a street-bought angle burger is abounding with flavour. Bacalhau, absolute cod, is the Portuguese angle and said to be the base for some 365 recipes, one for anniversary day of the year. Two dishes are decidedly notable. Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá, about a goulash of cod, potatoes and onion, is an Oporto aspect and advised conceivably Portugal's greatest bacalhau recipe. From Estremadura comes bacalhau á bràs, accolade eggs with absolute cod, potatoes and onions.

Shellfish, including clams (amêijoas) and mussels (mexilhões) are aswell of a top quality. Crab and squid are generally stuffed, and lulas recheadas à lisbonense (stuffed squid Lisbon-style) is a abundant archetype of Portuguese seafood. Visitors to Lisbon can acquisition acceptable shops by the docks affairs snails (caracóis).

There are affluence of options for the meat-lover too. Espetada, broiled skewers of beef with garlic, is popular, as is bairn pig (leitão). Cozido à portuguesa, a one-dish meal of beef, pork, sausage and vegetables, reflects the adeptness of acceptable cooking. A rather added abnormal aggregate is the pork and clams of porco à alentejana (pork Alentejo-style). Pork is aswell adapted with mussels na cataplana, with the wok-like cataplana sealing in the flavours. Meanwhile, the city-limits of Oporto boasts tripa à moda do Porto (Oporto-style tripe), allegedly a bequest from the canicule of Prince Henry the Navigator, if the city-limits was larboard with annihilation but blah afterwards accouterment the Infante's ships with food. To this day Oporto citizenry are accepted as tripeiros, or tripe-eaters.

Broiled craven (frango grelhado), acclimatized with peri-peri, garlic, and/or olive oil, is one of the few things that has fabricated its mark alfresco Portugal, area it can be begin in cities with a ample Portuguese population. The awful ambrosial peri-peri craven is generally served in specialist restaurants.

Portuguese food: a hidden treasure.Soups aggregate an basic allotment of acceptable cooking, with all address of vegetables, angle and meat acclimated to actualize a array of soups, stews and chowders. Caldo verde (literally blooming broth), fabricated from a soup of kale-like banknote thickened with potato and absolute a allotment of salpicão or chouriço sausage, originated from the arctic arena of Minho but is now advised a civic dish. Along with canja de galinha (chicken broth), caldo verde is a filling, abating and all-over favourite. For the added adventurous, caldeirada de lulas à madeirense (squid bouillon Madeira-style) appearance a artlessly Portuguese aggregate of seafood, back-scratch and ginger. Addition archetypal bowl is the açorda area vegetables or mollusk are added to blubbery rustic aliment to actualize a 'dry' soup.

Those with a candied tooth may be absorbed to apprentice that one of Portugal's best-kept comestible secrets is its all-inclusive and characteristic ambit of desserts, cakes and pastries. A basic of restaurant airheaded is amber mousse - richer, denser and smoother than adopted versions, while added favourites cover arroz doce, a auto and cinnamon-flavoured rice pudding. The a lot of acclaimed sweets, however, are the affluent egg-yolk and sugar-based cakes, afflicted by Moorish affable and able by Guimerães nuns in the sixteenth century. For a abnormally Portuguese experience, the company should arch for a pasteleria (or confeitaria), area the abounding varieties of cakes and added confections, as able-bodied as savoury delicacies like bolinhas de bacalhau, cod balls, are served. The Antiga Confeitaria de Belém, area the allegorical pastéis de nata, adorable custard-filled tarts, are baked, is a Lisbon highlight. Nearby Sintra has its own acceptable pastry, queijadas de Sintra (a blazon of cheese tart), which artery vendors advertise in packs of six.

The Portuguese attitude to aliment is simple and imaginative, acceptable and inventive. Above all, adequate acceptable aliment and the amusing aspects of bistro out is an admired allotment of accustomed life. From breezy cafes to world-class restaurants, all budgets and occasions are catered for. Tiny cafes and tascas, generally no added than holes in the wall, abound. The befalling to sample this abundantly alien cuisine in all its array is one of the absolute rewards of visiting Portugal.

(c) http://www.portugalvisitor.com

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