Our Portuguese Table

In today’s episode of “Our Portuguese Table,” we chat with a fellow Portugal lover – Catarina Araújo of the blog, A Portuguese Affair. She started the blog about a year and a half ago to channel her love of Portugal for her friends & family in the U.S. and the U.K.

Catarina recently visited Maria and they cooked together in Maria’s kitchen (lucky girl, right), and they also took a trip to Portugalia Marketplace in Fall River, MA. We bonded over our love of all things Portuguese, and especially food and drink including the LARGE gin & tonic glasses in Portugal and visiting the Licor Beirão factory in Lousã last Christmas. Catarina’s favorite way to drink Beirão is with ice and an orange peel. Did you know that the ribbons on the bottles are still tied by hand and fresh mountain water is used to produce the liqueur?

The next big trend in drinks in Portgual? Craft beers and microbreweries, which have been big here in the U.S. for a number of years. Some of Catarina’s favorite foods are canja de galinha (Portuguese-style chicken soup); a lulas (squid) stew and her avó’s mocha and Bolacha Maria cake. Question: do you put egg in your canja or not? Share in the comments, please!

If you know of someone you think we should chat with at our Portuguese table, send us a message at http://www.ourportuguesetable.com/contact

To check out Catarina’s blog, visit https://www.aportugueseaffair.com/ or follow along on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aportugueseaffair/

Twitter: @PortugalAffair

Instagram: @aportugueseaffair

In this episode of Our Portuguese Table, we chat with Barbara Borges-Martin, also known as the Dairy Goddess of Lemoore, California. With roots in Terceira and Pico, Barbara is following in her family’s footsteps. Her grandparents met in Boston before heading to California to start a dairy.

Barbara’s cheese-making adventures began when she took a cheese-making course at Cal Poly. The Dairy Goddess now offers 6 types of Fromage Blanc, or French-style fresh cheese (also spreadable). Barbara was inspired by her favorite places and flavors during her career as a travel agent in Southern California in creating specialty flavors, which range from "Azores" (made with Malagueta chili pepper paste) to the "Central Coast" (made with Santa Maria seasoning & dill) to "The Valley" (made with peaches, almonds & honey). The Valley is her Oscar-winning cheese, having won 1st place in the American Cheese Society’s Fresh Cheese category.

The ladies talk about the importance of supporting local farmers and agricultural tourism (agritourism). The conversation soon turned to couves (kale or collard greens?) and how we’ve been eating them since before they were ‘cool’. Weigh in on the translation debate, please! Barbara’s favorite dish is her grandmother’s sopa de nabo or turnip soup.

Visit the Dairy Goddess! http://www.dairygoddess.com/

In this episode of Our Portuguese Table, we chat with Robert Morey of Morey Cellars in Napa, California. Did you know there are around 6 or 7 Portuguese-American wineries in California and the West Coast in general?

Morey’s mom was born in New Bedford, MA and his father was from California. Robert was born in Lisbon and lived in Carcavelos and Estoril before moving to the US as a teenager.

Wine, however, is in his blood – his paternal grandfather was a partner of the Mondavi’s and his family made wine in Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, in the Guarda region of northern Portugal. The memories of men making the wine and women cooking for them still remain. Robert recalls his first food memory that involved some steak & Sagres. He loves sardinhas, caldo verde and Avó’s bolinhos de bacalhau.

Morey Cellars opened a tasting room this past season and continues to expand as well as host events – a few are coming up soon! Visit their Facebook & Instagram  to learn more. Robert also dabbles in Oakland-style BBQ, which is inspired by the style from Houston, TX. We even talked about a Portuguese version of chicken & waffles – frango and farturas, per Angela’s suggestion! 

He loves to see how Portuguese food is spreading thanks to new hot spots like ADEGA in San Jose and Uma Casa in San Francisco. His advice for aspiring wine-makers: wine-making is a very agricultural industry and it’s a long-term commitment – “you need a small fortune to make a fortune,” as he says. Robert also operates a non-profit martial arts school in his free time.

As always, if you’ve enjoyed our podcast, share it with your friends & family and let us know!

In this episode we chat with Floriano (Flo) Cabral, TV producer and co-founder of the International Portuguese Music Awards (IPMA) (http://ipmaawards.com/)! The IPMA show, now in its 5th year, is a Portuguese-style GRAMMY show, aiming to encourage artists of Portuguese descent to share their work. The hope is for artists to network and collaborate, which happened last year with artist Boss AC & Paulo Gonzo’s sound engineer.  

IPMA weekend is made up of 3 events – a Friday night gala; the show on Saturday night; and the after-party immediately following the show.  This year’s show is taking place on April 22, 2017 at the Zeiterion Theatre in New Bedford.  Artists like Lucenzo, of ‘Danza Kuduro’ fame, Jorge Ferreira & Roberto Leal have been honored in the past.

Over the years, Floriano has faced criticism from members in the community but has pushed past them. Like we say, “Your success is our success!” We should encourage each other and support fellow Portuguese entrepreneurs and organizations. =)

Ok, on to the food… some of Floriano’s favorites are chicharros fritos and polvo à lagareiro – he recently spent a weekend cooking for his wife’s family in São Miguel. Floriano is also a key committee member for the Day of Portugal celebrations in Fall River, MA. Floriano says his friends wonder if he actually works but as they say, “Love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life!” That’s advice we can all get behind! 

To learn more about the show, visit their website: ipmaawards.com or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Twitter: @ipma_awards. The official hashtag of this year’s show is #2017IPMA.

In today’s episode of Our Portuguese Table, Maria & Angela spend some time catching up.

Angela thinks Maria has a future in being a motivational public speaker. Not many people are so unconditionally supportive of their friends and family, and Maria's pep talks have helped Angela get through some tough moments!  

It’s important to listen to your gut, be positive and persevere! Surround yourself with positive people who encourage and inspire you. As Angela said, “Just because other people don’t see [your] vision doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue it.”

Angela talks about her recent experience at a trade show and how it wasn’t as successful as she’d hoped. But there were many lessons learned, and she continues to work on building her businesses. On the bright side, Angela’s bilingual Portuguese-English children’s book, “Linda Menina, Pretty Girl” is now on sale on Amazon and at http://portuguesebooks.org/books/pretty-girl-linda-menina. Additional books are in the works so stay tuned!

Maria has also been a busy lady! Thanks to a major sponsor, her cooking show on PBS in Rhode Island is set to start filming this month and will air across the U.S. and Canada! Some of the episodes will even be filmed in the Azores!

And last, but not least, we start talking about Easter foods. Angela is thinking of making a rack of lamb with batatas ao murro (smashed potatos). Maria talks desserts like lemon-coconut cake and, of course, sweet bread!

Do you have Maria's book? Buy it here if not! http://azoreangreenbean.com/

February already?! Can you believe the first two months of 2017 have already flown by?

Maria is “so freaking excited!” about today’s episode, where we chat with Jeremiah Duarte Bills, whom you may recognize from the latest season of The Great American Baking Show, which aired over the holiday season!

We rooted for him and we’re sure almost every Portuguese household watching did too! Since the show aired, Jeremiah has received messages from all over the world, from Brazil to the Azores.

Jeremiah’s Portuguese roots come from his mom’s side of the family – with family from the freguesia (parish) of Pedro Miguel in Horta, Faial and São Miguel, too. Even though Jeremiah wasn’t a big food fan growing up, he comes from a baking-obsessed family — his mom made wedding cakes and Massa Sovada is a BIG DEAL in his family. He started baking in college to connect to his culinary roots.

After an extensive application process, Jeremiah got the call to compete on the show. We’re big fans of the fact that he’s introduced the American public to Portuguese baked goods and better yet, got creative with traditional recipes. Just take a look at his Massa Sleigh and Christmas Tree.

After swapping tips about massa recipes, where Jeremiah shares one of his favorite days EVER – making mass with the people of Pedro Miguel, we talk about his favorite food memories. Oh yeah, did we mention that Jeremiah is also a part-time beekeeper? Some of his favorite foods are Alcatra, torta de bacalhau, morcela and cracas (barnacles) from the Azores. And Pudim Molotof (which is made with egg whites), too!

What’s next for this celebrity chef? A Portuguese dessert cookbook! There aren’t any around yet. Remember friends – the exact recipe doesn’t matter – what counts is that we all work together to preserve our culinary traditions. =)

Connect with Jeremiah on social media: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

And, as always, let us know what you think of today’s podcast and share it with your family & friends!

P.S.: we’re looking for sponsorship opportunities! If you’re interested, send us a message.

Até a próxima!

Happy 2017! Welcome to our first podcast of the year! Before we chat about that – can you believe we’ve been doing this for almost a year?

We were excited to chat with Steve Chaves of Malasada World in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada for our first podcast of the year. Angela nicknamed Steve the Willy Wonka of Malasada World, which is located about an hour west of Toronto in Cambridge, Ontario, on the 401. Check out this article on malasadas from Eater. Yes, the one ‘s’ in the spelling of ‘malasada’ is intentional – Steve says it’s easier for English speakers to pronounce since the word comes from two words: ‘mal’ and ‘assada’.

Before opening the shop about seven months ago – on Dia de Portugal weekend 2016, no less! – Steve worked as a classically-trained French chef all over Canada for over 25 years, spending time in Alberta & British Columbia, too.

Steve took note of the specialty dessert and donut craze – Cronuts and gourmet cupcakes, anyone? – and thought “Why can’t we do that with malassadas?” He was also inspired by the malasadas of Hawaii, which have been popular for decades, thanks to bakeries like Leonard’s. Did you know that the Portuguese, primarily from Madeira & the Azores, brought them to the Aloha State in the 19th century, working on the sugar plantations? In Madeira, malasadas (similar to Bolas de Berlim) were enjoyed on Shrove Tuesday (Terça-Feira Gorda), the Tuesday before Lent. The tradition continues to this day – Mardi Gras is known as Malasada Day in Hawaii!

Which recipe does Steve use to make his traditional malasadas? Many! – Steve combined his Avó’s recipes as well as those of other family members and friends – to create the perfect malasada! Some of their specialty flavors include: Passion Fruit Meringue, Dulce de Leche, Chocolate Hazelnut, Apple Crumble, and the Doughnata – yes, a nata and malasada hybrid. New flavors are released every few weeks. Send us your suggestions to pass along to Steve, please!

What’s next? Steve dreams of being the next David Rocco, traveling through the Azores and and eating and writing about food. Cheers to that!

Check out Malasada World on Facebook and Instagram.

We’d love your feedback! Let us know how you enjoyed this podcast.

In this final episode of 2016 (actually recorded a few months ago), we talk with Chef Joe Rego, winner of two Food Network Shows – Chopped and Cutthroat Kitchen. How did he get started? Joe has always been an artist! And growing up, Joe helped his mom cook (like many of us) growing up in Lisbon before coming to New Bedford. He graduated from culinary school at Johnson and Wales. And he’s worked in multiple places, from New England to Georgia & Florida. He also shared some advice for aspiring chefs out there.

Chef Joe dishes about some of his favorite foods – ice cream and caracóis – before sharing some of his favorite New Bedford spots: Novo Mundo and The Black Whale, to name a few. Stay tuned for Joe’s newest project, Cask & Pig Kitchen & Alehouse, opening in Dartmouth, MA in early 2017.

You’ll also discover how Chef Joe is a big supporter of his community, and loves to give back in multiple ways. It’s always awesome to see someone who uses their success for good and giving back to the community.

Joe also LOVES being a daddy to his young daughter. =)

Follow him on Facebook to stay in the know. And as always, take a listen and let us know what you think!

Joes’ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/chefjoerego/

Cask & Pig Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Cask-Pig-Kitchen-and-Alehouse-1831354573813436/

Joe’s Website – http://chefjoerego.com/

Joe Rego Discusses Cutthroat Kitchen Episode – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gg-uwbtn3k

In this podcast, we catch up about Portugal and Thanksgiving and start talking about Christmas foods and traditions.

Angela’s month-long trip to Portugal was a mix of work and play (and handling an energetic 3 year old). She spent time in Lisbon, Porto & Braga. :) Do you know of any kids who like peixinho com vinagre (what a savory palate!)? Shout-out to listener Danielle Pimentel for recommending Maria Catita in Lisboa’s Baixa. One of this trip’s foodie discoveries happened was one of Campo Pequeno's petiscos – scrambled eggs & alheira. She also tried Bacalhau à Zé do Pipo.

We also talk about Thanksgiving – Maria’s was a quiet affair with her daughters out of town. Angela, on the other hand, spent the holiday with 200 family members. There must be a lot of Maria’s in there. ;) But it's one of those Portuguese-esque holidays with lots of food and family, not that we don't do that EVERY weekend.

And last, but not least, the conversation turned to Christmas! Maria talks about the presépio her mom used to make growing up – not just a small nativity scene but a nativity village. And what’s on the Christmas table? Check out the Christmas menus for both Maria and Angela below.

What about you? What are you favorite Christmas traditions (food or otherwise)? Let us know in the comments!

Boas Festas!

P.S.: Ever wondered where Bolo Rei came from? Take a peek at this post to learn more about it.

http://catavino.net/bolo-rei-bolo-rainha-portuguese-christmas-cake/

Maria Catita - https://www.facebook.com/restaurantemariacatita/

Bacalhau a Ze do Pipo -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacalhau_%C3%A0_Z%C3%A9_do_Pipo

Go here to see Maria’s presepio! http://azoreangreenbean.com/2015/12/presepio/

Angela’s Christmas Eve Menu

- Azeitonas

- Queijo Casteloes with crackers - http://www.lactogal.pt/content.aspx?menuid=119

- Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa (see below for Maria’s recipe, which I’ll be using!)

- Papo Secos - https://easyportugueserecipes.com/portuguese-rolls-papo-secos/

- Pasteis de nata (homemade by my husband, but here’s another recipe!) - http://leitesculinaria.com/7759/recipes-portuguese-custard-tarts-pasteis-de-nata.html

- Café Nespresso (Ristretto and Ciocattino are our favs!)

- Assorted liquors

Angela’s Christmas Day Breakfast Menu

- Brunch eggs made with Alheira instead of bacon! http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/dishes/breakfast-bake-recipes/brunch-egg-bake-recipes

- Linguica bites (just cut up pieces of linguica)

- French toast strips made with sweet bread - http://www.marthastewart.com/1110525/emerils-portuguese-sweet-bread-french-toast

- Fresh fruit

Angela’s Christmas Day Dinner Menu

- Lamb a moda da minha sogra (My mother-in-law’s lamb recipe – if you’d like the recipe, message me and I’ll share it!)

- Mashed potatoes

- Green Salad

- Pasteis de nata

- Café Nespresso

- Assorted liquors

Maria’s Christmas Menu

Rice Pudding... http://azoreangreenbean.com/2015/12/arroz-doce-sweet-rice/

Chocolate Tart... http://azoreangreenbean.com/2014/06/chocolate-tart-maria-biscuit-crust-recipe/

Lemon Liquore .... http://azoreangreenbean.com/2014/06/lemon-liqueur-recipe/

Last but not least pictures of my Prespio with pieces that belonged to my mom... very precious to me!!

http://azoreangreenbean.com/2015/12/presepio/

Also... we would always have a codfish dish at our christmas table...

This Year I'm making the very easy and traditional Cod Fish à Gomes Sá / Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá. This codfish recipe is the most traditional dish. As far as I can remember, my mom would make this dish for us. Visit www.ourportuguesetable.com for the full recipe!

In this episode of Our Portuguese Table, we chat with Peter Ferreira of Nuts n’ More. Peter and his friends wanted to add some extra protein to some of their favorite foods, like peanut butter, and voi’la, Nuts n’ More was born. His parents, who own Silver Star Bakery in Providence, RI, would help him mix jars of peanut butter by hand. It was flying off the shelves of local fitness stories and at the bakery so they took a chance -- Peter e-mailed the folks at Shark Tank. After a few months he got a call back, and they found themselves in LA for a week pitching to the Sharks. They were the last of their group to pitch at 10 pm, but it was worth it! Mark Cuban + Robert Herjavec backed their product.

3 years later, Peter and his partners are working on creating new snacks and recipes. They appeared on QVC and sold 12,000 jars in 6 minutes! Who knows - maybe their international expansion will lead to some nata and arroz doce butters at a supermercado near you. ;)

We also talk about Peter’s favorite Portuguese foods. He loves his mom’s bacalhau com natas and avó’s polvo (octopus).

If you’re interested in purchasing any of Nus n’ More’s products, visit their website or your local retailer, such as GNC.

And we can’t forget to congratulate Peter and his partner Sandra on the birth of their son Daxton! Parabens!!

Até a próxima!

Nuts n’ More: https://nuts-n-more.com/

Silver Star Bakery: https://www.facebook.com/Silver-Star-Bakery-247720348606277/

Shark Tank Pitch with Nuts n’ More: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lt0nHIAU48&feature=youtu.be

Bacalhau com Natas: https://easyportugueserecipes.com/bacalhau-com-natas/