We’re enjoying our first visitor (Hi C!) this week and it’s been a lot of firsts for us. You see, we’ve been terrible residents in Braga because we have done nothing in our city. No tours, museums, sights, or sites. (We have done some music and art. Oh, and Braga Romana.) It’s been a bit of laziness on our part, but also we’ve been wanting to share it with a visitor. So, here we are!
One of the things we did was enjoy a cooking demonstration and meal organized by Food & Wine Experiences. We did think it was going to be more “hands-on” than it turned out to be, but it was nonetheless a lot of fun. And delicious! (As a bonus, Lisa knew all but two of the 14 people around the table, so it became a social event as well as lunch.)
Alongside a choice of two wines from Adega de Vila Real (the Reserva DOC Douro Vinho in either Tinto [red] or Branco [white]), our menu was:
- Favas com Enchidos: Deliciously seasoned fava beans with traditional Portuguese sausages.
- Pá de Porco Assada em Forno de Lenha: Tender, wood-fired pork shoulder served with golden potatoes, carrot rice and fresh greens.
- Castanhas Assadas: Celebrate with roasted chestnuts, a São Martinho classic.
(pic from Food Experiences)
We arrived at 11 am and greeted our hosts, Jose and Camille then went down into the kitchen & dining area. Before any food was served, Lisa knew this was going to be good because Camille was going to make everything on the “wood-fire.”
We learned that the very common greens were actually kale, making both of us change our minds about this previously disliked green. (It’s great when served in restaurants, we’d presumed they were spinach, maybe chard.) Adding shredded carrots to the rice is dead simple, and elevates a plain dish. The secret to the potatoes was to roast them almost to done, add some of the juices from the roast pork, then put them back in to finish. Superb. The pork was marinated for several hours before cooking for several hours and was fall-apart tender with an excellent crust.
It was also the first time we’d tried that (US holiday) classic, roasted chestnuts. We agreed they were rich and delicious with somewhat sweet, almost buttery flavor. (Lisa is now looking for chestnut flour to try making a traditional cake.)
Oh! we missed it last week, but November 11th is Dia de São Martinho, a day honoring Martin of Tours and we spent much of our Portuguese language class learning his story. It seems that Martin, a 4th-century Roman soldier-knight, was riding his horse in a snowstorm and came upon a nearly naked beggar. Moved to charity (as all good knights are) but not having any money or food, Martin took his sword, cut his cloak in half, and gave the cloth to the beggar. The fabric covered the beggar and the clouds dispersed, the sun came out, and Jesus said to the angels, “Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized; he has clothed me.” Thus, he became a Saint.
Over the centuries this day has become a celebration of the harvest, specifically the maturation of the year’s wine production. In many Portuguese communities a large party is held with a bonfire (a magusto). Recently-harvested castanhas (chestnuts) are roasted and the first wines of the season are tasted. There is a saying as well, É dia de São martinho. Comem-se castanhas; prova-se o vinho! , which translates to “It is St. Martin’s Day. We’ll eat chestnuts; we’ll taste the wine.”
