A foodie photography tour of Portugal – Part II is a continuation post revealing photographs of my journey through Portugal during the Summer of 2014, which served as inspiration for the book that I have writing called ” The Portuguese Travel Cookbook”.
The first post of my foodie photography tour of Portugal , was published during the time when I was still writing the manuscript and going through some of the 30.000+ photographs that we took during the journey. Accompanied by Emanuele Siracusa, and with the help of APTECE – The Portuguese Food Travel Association, the two of traveled the country for about 5 weeks, seeking to document the stories, the people, the places and the recipes of the heartland of Portugal´s traditional gastronomy.
Portuguese gastronomy and its humble origins are bursting with travel inspiration, candid photos, stories, history and emotions which are capable of provoking feelings like any other cuisine in the world. Portugal has the advantage of (still) being a relatively unknown country in the world food travel panorama. Our other great asset is that we did not need to invent, alter or produce anything – all we had to do is to tell the stories of the persons, the recipes and of the places which make traditional Portuguese Cuisine happen on a daily basis. It is places like the ones you will see bellow that are the true bastions of Portuguese Traditional Gastronomy.
Places like Adega velha in Mourão, the Solar Bragançano in Bragança, Zé Manel dos Ossos in Coimbra or Café Correia in Vila do Bispo. Much beyond the tremendous deepness of flavor that is produced in places like this, there is soul, character, authenticity, pride and plenty of stories to tell – written and visual ones. Basically there is raw, unprocessed Portugal in these places.
Set to be published in late March, “The Portuguese Travel Cookbook” sets out to showcase the Portuguese feeling of saying “I Love you” through food. The book is a journey through the Portugal which is Semper Fidelis to its origins, proud of its culinary identity and heritage, where stories about the food, the places, the restaurants, the eateries, the villages, the producers, the fisherman, the farmers and the chefs who dedicate their life and their everyday to make this reality more tangible.
Discovering Lisbon is easy…Hearing a German friend, to whom you advised a Portugal journey, saying that the highlight of his trip was to be sitting in the main square of Vinhais (a deep interior village), eating charcuterie and drinking red local wine, knowing he was the only foreigner in 50 km is another…
Seafood Fritada at Caçarola 1, Figueira da Foz
Abandoned Restaurant, Praia do Almograge
Bento Valente singing Cante Alentejano at Adega Velha, Mourão
Homemade Liqueurs at O Bruiço, Vila Nova de Foz Côa
Cured Sheep Cheese at Tradimontana Fumeiros, Mirandela
Fisherman at Praia da Leirosa
Homemade corn bread at Paço de Calheiros, Ponte de Lima
Fishing nets at Porto da Baleeira, Sagres
Bullfighting Arena, Mourão
Fisherman, Praia do Pedrogão
Jewish symbol, Trancoso
Handstand at 2000 meters, Torre, Serra da Estrela
Donax clams in Marisqueira Rui, Silves
Fish market, Tavira
Turbot Fish at Praia da Leirosa
Octopus at Café Correia, Vila do Bispo
Stewed Bones at Zé Manel dos Ossos, Coimbra
Portuguese Petiscos at Adega do Faustino, Chaves
Local festivity street light, Mondim de Basto
The Cover of my book with APTECE and Emanuel Siracusa, “The Portuguese Travel CookBook” to be published in late March in Portuguese and English.