Our Portuguese Table

Named after Chef Manuel Azevedo's mother, LaSalette Restaurant opened in Sonoma nearly 20 years ago, and for a long time was one of the only Portuguese restaurants in the entire state of California. Listen to how Chef Manuel went from wanting to be a mechanic to returning to his love of food, and now after two restaurants and a beautiful cookbook, he is embarking on a third restaurant, Tasca Tasca. Learn more about Chef Manuel at http://www.lasalette-restaurant.com/, his newest restaurant at http://www.tascatasca.com/ and his restaurant, Cafe Lucia that he owns with his sister at http://cafelucia.net/

Spring is here and that means getting your hands dirty in the garden and also making sure that all moms are pampered and made to feel extra special for Mother's Day! We talk about how we celebrate Mother's Day, special recipes our moms made, and we find out who loves to garden and who doesn't!

Ana Ortins is a fellow Portuguese-American who got her love of food and cooking from her paternal grandmother. Listen to learn about her family's history and how that influenced her cooking, her love of food, love of tradition, and a few other fun tid bits. Do you know why your mother or grandmother used to iron every piece of laundry?? Here's a hint, it wasn't just an old school habit for the sake of doing it. For more information on Ana Ortins and her cookbooks, visit her website http://www.portuguesecooking.com/

In this podcast we talk about some of the Portuguese Easter traditions and traditional foods. As Portugal is a very Catholic country, Easter is an important celebration for all Portuguese and the Portuguese-American community.

Here are links to some of the recipes we talked about during the podcast:

Portuguese Sweet Bread: http://azoreangreenbean.com/2015/12/portuguese-sweetbread/

Angela's favorite Nespresso flavor: https://www.nespresso.com/us/en/order/capsules/original/ciocattino

Folar Algarvio: http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/21097/gin-fizz.html

Rosas do Egipto: http://pratacasas.blogspot.com/2014/03/rosas-do-egipto.html

George Mendes is one of the most successful Portuguese-American chefs and restauranteurs in the country, and we are thrilled to have him as our first guest on Our Portuguese Table. Listen to how Chef George found his love of cooking, the sweet memories he has of family gatherings, his new book "My Portugal" and that moment when he knew he'd "made it." Learn more about Chef George Mendes, his restaurants and book at http://www.aldearestaurant.com/, http://www.lupulonyc.com/ or follow him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chefgeorgemendes

In this very first podcast for Our Portuguese Table, Maria and Angela talk about what they hope to acheive with the podcast, what they'll talk about (and laugh about!), and different chefs and other guests they will speak with. Find more information about both Maria and Angela at www.ourportuguesetable.com, and more information about Maria's cookbooks at www.azoreangreenbean.com.