A taste of old Lisboa

[paulthenurse]

Alice and I went to Portugal for our honeymoon. Neither one of us has a drop of Portugese blood in our veins but we decided to go someplace completely different. So we get there and it's wonderful. I can't say enough good stuff about the place. The wine, the port, the food, the beauty of the land. I'd go back tomorrow.
One thing I fell in love with immediatley was grilled sardines. I made the fortunate choice to pick them for lunch at an outdoor cafe on our first day there and I had them every day we were there. I figured I'd never have them again unless we went bach but last week I was hanging out at my local HBS, (Go figure!) talkng to a guy and we got to discussing where we had traveled. I got to talking aout Portuagal and ened up telling him about the sardines and how much I enjoyed them and wished I could get them here in this country. He said, "So go down to Fraga's maket and get some."
"What?"
"Sure, Fraga's has them frozen. I get them there all the time." (He's Portugese, he has the inside track.)

So yesterday I wander in to ths little markt in town. I've never been in there befoe, it's a tiny hole in the wall. It was like going back to the markets in Lisbon. Wicked cool. I also quickly figure out that I'm the only one in there without a green card, but they take it easy on me and switch to English.

So here goes. Grilled Sardines.

They come frozen in a bag.

I let them defrost enogh to get the surface ice off then rolled them in coarse salt.

Some new Maine potatoes on to boil.

Then onto the grill.

 

[paulthenurse]

You want to get a light char on the surface but obviously you don't want to burn them. Don' walk away once they go on the grill. I have the gas at medium low, but they are an oily fish so the drips flare up. Just push the fish aside for a moment until the fire goes out then push them back over the heat. (I have some Talapia on next to the sardines, SWMBO wasn't as in love with them as I was. That's ok, more for me.)

Dinner fit for Ferdinand the Explorer.

You know they are cooked just right when the flesh pulls away from the bones and leaves the spinal column intact. Isn't it strange how the fish all disappeared, the potatoes mostly disappeared and the frozen veggies seemed to stay the same.

And a nice glass of my wheat beer to go along with dinner.

PTN

 

[zoebisch01]

My friend Phil turned me on to these, and I believe his experience with these in Portugal was similar. Wegman's here carries them fresh every once in a while and you can get them frozen too at a different market. I love them, they are just awesome. One day I am gonna haul out the charcoal and do them right. The salt is key.

 

[Yooper]

Yum- that looks awesome! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Living here in the middle of nowhere, we don't get much "exotic" stuff at all. No calamari, no sardines, no wonderful cheeses. We do have lutefisk and pickled herring, though.

 

[paulthenurse]

Ya, it is. Unfortunately I think that is why SWMBO is afraid of them. Her brother had a heart attack a few years ago and if she was a 'heart friendly eater' before that she has become a salt/fat diet nazi since. But the salt on the exterior just does magical things to them.

 

[paulthenurse]

We do have lutefisk and pickled herring, though.

? What the heck is a lutefisk?

 

[Alamo_Beer]

? What the heck is a lutefisk?

Ask this guy

Or go here.... Lutefisk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Man, those Sardines look awesome! I'll have to freak SWMBO out some time and grill some up

 

[paulthenurse]

~~~~"Lutefisk is cod that has been dried in a lye solution. It looks like the desiccated cadavers of squirrels run over by trucks, but after it is soaked and reconstituted and the lye is washed out and it’s cooked, it looks more fish-related, though with lutefisk, the window of success is small. It can be tasty, but the statistics aren’t on your side. It is the hereditary delicacy of Swedes and Norwegians who serve it around the holidays, in memory of their ancestors, who ate it because they were poor. Most lutefisk is not edible by normal people. It is reminiscent of the afterbirth of a dog or the world’s largest chunk of phlegm."~~~~

Strangely enough, I don't think I've ever seen Lutefisk on a menu around here. On second thought, maybe it's not so strange. Guess I'll just stick with the sardines. Thanks anyways, Yoop.

 

[zoebisch01]

? What the heck is a lutefisk?

Hahaha. It's pretty wacked, the procedure. At one point the pH is so high it is completely poisonous. But I do remember seeing that in MI the one place (and it's not a big store) sells something like 500 lb a day or something absurd like that, when it's the 'season'. (not that the fish has a season, but the traditional time of eating it). I'd try it for sure. I was actually thinking of ordering some just to try but I dunno where.

Here's another 'delicacy':

Hakarl

By law the farms that make it have to be so far from city limits because the smell is so overwhelming!

Holy crap....this looks scary!

Damn I didn't realize that Gravlax was originally salted Salmon that was buried under the ground. "The word gravlax comes from the Scandinavian word grav, which means literally "grave" or "hole in the ground" (in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Estonian), and lax (or laks), which means "salmon", thus gravlax is "salmon dug into the ground".

 

[paulthenurse]

~~~~~~The shark itself is poisonous when fresh due to a high content of uric acid and trimethylamine oxide, but may be consumed after being processed (see below). It has a particular ammonia smell, not too dissimilar from many cleaning products. It is often served in cubes on toothpicks. Those new to it will usually gag involuntarily on the first attempt to eat it due to the high ammonia content. First-timers are sometimes advised to pinch their nose while taking the first bite as the smell is much stronger than the taste.~~~~~



WTF!!! You people from the frozen north got some serious issues.

 

[zoebisch01]

~~~~~~The shark itself is poisonous when fresh due to a high content of uric acid and trimethylamine oxide, but may be consumed after being processed (see below). It has a particular ammonia smell, not too dissimilar from many cleaning products. It is often served in cubes on toothpicks. Those new to it will usually gag involuntarily on the first attempt to eat it due to the high ammonia content. First-timers are sometimes advised to pinch their nose while taking the first bite as the smell is much stronger than the taste.~~~~~



WTF!!! You people from the frozen north got some serious issues.

Hahah. Dang, you know I'd try it. I do love salt licorice. This is probably like salt licorice on steroids in terms of the ammonia content.

 

[Melana]

Paul, you've never had salt cod???

 

[Laurel]

IIRC, Anthony Bourdain had trouble getting it down. There's a section of Seattle that has high Swedish/Norwegian population (Ballard) that has a lutefisk festival or parties or something every year.

 

[zoebisch01]

IIRC, Anthony Bourdain had trouble getting it down. There's a section of Seattle that has high Swedish/Norwegian population (Ballard) that has a lutefisk festival or parties or something every year.

He's a lightweight . I'll never forget the one episode of A Cook's Tour where he was iirc in Vietnam and met his French contact there. The guy was describing some form of green jelly they eat (in his French accent) as "It has a negative taste". I am not sure if he partook of the steaming pile of Pig guts or not.

 

[olllllo]

Yooper: Smelt? No Smelt?

 

[paulthenurse]

Yooper: Smelt? No Smelt?

LMFAO. Now I need to wipe beer spay off the monitor, you bastard.

 

[zoebisch01]

Smelts are nice, all crispy fried.

 

[pjj2ba]

I grew up eating lake smelt and thought they were the best. Just coat with flour, deep fry and eat. We used to dip them in lemon juice. Mmmmm.

Same as you, but ten yrs after being married and tired of vacation consisting of visiting family (ie, not really vacation) we decided to go to Portugal as we love food and wine and had heard great things about Portugal (also less $$). We spent two weeks and toured most of the country. We will be going back. We had sardines there, and move over smelt! They are even better over charcoal. Aw man, you s#ck, now I want some!

I also love their presunto (their version of proscuitto). It is my fav of those kind of hams. It is drier than Italian or Spanish versions.

After the sardines, our favorites dishes were a grilled octopus salad, and a coarse tomato soup that starts out with frying three kinds of sausage (including blood sausage) and then removing the meat and making the soup. The sausage bits were then served on the side to be dunked in the soup. I think I know one meal this weekend!

I think we came home with 4 cookbooks and now have close to a dozen portuguese cookbooks

 

[paulthenurse]

We came home with 2 more suitcases than we left with and I had to buy all new socks, tee shirts and underwear when we got home cause I left all mine in a trash barrel in the airport parking garage to make room. We managed to bring back 3 cases of Port a case of wine and a couple of dozen glasses from various quintas.

Yup, can't wait to go back. I'd argue with you about the Spanish hams, however. We drove from the Duoro thru Spain, down to Seville and then to the Allegarve. The sliced ham we had at the tapas bar across from the Bullring in Seville ranks as some of the best eats I've ever had..
P

 

[pjj2ba]

Hah, s*ckness thwarted! We worked a little late last night and then ran some errands, the last stop being our local "fancier" grocery store. I left with the two last fresh sardines they had!

I've had the ham in Spain too, I like the extra dryness and the nuttier flavor of the Portuguese version.

The best food we had in Spain was razor clams and boquerones (anchovies marinated in olive oil with garlic and lemon - not the salty kind - often made with fresh anchovies).

You still s*ck though since if you ever get the joneses for Portuguese food, you can just drive to New Bedford for a huge selection of restaurants. I've got to drive at least 2 hrs, 4 hrs for any selection.

 

[zoebisch01]

Hah, s*ckness thwarted! We worked a little late last night and then ran some errands, the last stop being our local "fancier" grocery store. I left with the two last fresh sardines they had!

Yes you officially suck

 

[paulthenurse]

You know I hardly ever do go to 'New Beige' (thats how the Portagee say it) It's a bit out of the way, it's a dump and there is only one really good Portagee resturant there.

 

[pjj2ba]

Yes you officially suck

Maybe they'll have more today. I know they do come in on Thursdays. Maybe they held some back. It might be worth a call to see if they'll hold some for you if the do have more. You could fire up the charcoal grill for a great B-day treat.


I've never been to New Bedford, I just assumed with the large Portuguese population there would be a number of good restaurants. Newark, NJ actually has a number of good ones. They are doing some urban renewal downtown and the iron bottom neighboorhood is nice. We found a Portuguese mkt. there that was very nice. Toronto also has some nice restaurants. That's where I first good turned onto their cuisine

 

[paulthenurse]

Ya, unfortunatley, NB is a real rats nest. The one good restaurant tate I do know if is quite good but I don't make the drive to go there just for dinner very often

 

[paulthenurse]

Hey Yooper,

So I'm sitting here watching TV. Al has gone to bed, she has to get up early, and I turn on Bizzare Foods with Andrew zimmern. And he goes to Minnestota his Home state) and eates Lutefisk!!!! What a coincidence!!!!

Some quotes.

"It's like fish flavored Jello."

"The trick is to not breath while you are eating!"

"As it gets colder the risk of eating it outweigh the benifits."

"No-one really knows how, or why, someone first developed Lutefisk."

"It's a Lutheran thing."



On second thought, maybe I won't be coming to visit next summer. Thanks anyways. I think I'm going to have a cold. Or Lumbago. Or my bunions will be acting up. Or the pharmacy said they couldn't dispense Omeprazole by the pound... Something like that.

PTN