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History Of Portuguese Cuisine - Yahoo Recipe Search
Food52Casey Angelova of the food blog, Eating, Gardening & Living in Bulgaria, is sponsoring another cultural cuisine event. This time it’s honoring Portugal on their National Day. The Portuguese call it “Dia de Portugal.” It’s also a day honoring their national hero, Luís de Camões, for he’s the author of an epic poem, Os Lusíadas, that tells the history of Portuguese exploration. A few centuries ago, Portugal had vast empires in Africa and Latin America. With a foundation of Mediterranean flavors, it’s a cuisine with a global influence. Tomatoes, chocolate, vanilla and chilies from the “New World” are now important ingredients in many cultures, including Portugal. Before the addition of Latin America flavors, Gazpacho, or as the Portuguese call it, Gaspacho, was a cold soup made of cucumbers, stale bread, onions, garlic, olive oil and vinegar. Later, the addition of tomatoes and chilies became another variation that made it sweet and spicy. Traditionally, this soup is made with a mortar and pestle, but a food processor or a blender simplifies the process. Some people strain and discard the solids, but I like the slight lumpy texture of puree soup. There are many adaptations to this soup, because the ingredients are easily substituted. Several years ago, I made a Latin American-inspired tomatillo version with pumpkin seed pesto swirled into it. For this version, the Shrimp and Cucumber salad was added to make this dish a little heartier. Including a roughly chopped salad is a great introduction to people who prefer warmer soups with texture. Made with raw ingredients, Gazpacho is a tasty soup to make when a garden is overflowing with summer vegetables. It’s best enjoyed at room temperature with a slight chill on an extremely hot summer day. Dia Português feliz!
