Joe Ray
Food & Travel / Words & Photos
EATING
THE
MOTHERLAND
Food writer and photographer Joe Ray's gastronomic visits in Europe - the home of his ancestors - and beyond.
Archives
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Two hands on the cans
Barcelona’s canned goods quality fanatic Quim Perez should know about this place.
I find the Lisbon landmark, the Conserveira de Lisboa (The Lisbon Cannery) - famous for their Tricana line of high-end canned seafood, completely by accident.
After I pay for a few tins, cannery owner Regina Ferreria walks out of the back room. She asks me what I’ve found, grimaces and walks to the side wall of her tiny, picturesque shop and pulls down a 125 gram tin of ovas de sardinha – sardine eggs.
She uses both of her hands to place her gift into mine.
“Open them gently. Place them on a plate. Place them on bread – not toast – so the olive oil gets soaked up,†she says. “No forks! It bothers them - use a spatula. Serve these to your sweetie with vinho verde.â€
I need to stop traveling alone.
Conserveira de Lisboa - MAP
Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, 34
Lisbon
+351.218.871.058
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Lisbon’s Locavores
After a few blissful days in Lisbon, a local friend who lives in NYC and is back visiting her hometown takes her brother and me out to the Moinho de Baixo (a.k.a. “Mecoâ€) beach about 40 minutes outside of town. It’s a perfect break from the city: beaches and dunes, breaking turquoise waves and not a tourist in sight. It’s amazing to think that it’s this easy to get out of town.
Once the sun goes down, we head to the Bar do Peixe, have a seat and dig in. Dinner starts with Azeitao cheese, the main course is half of a grilled robalo (tasty snook) caught by the owner’s fisherman husband and we drink a white from the Setubal Peninsula – everything comes from less than 40 minutes away.
“The fish comes from there,†says the owner, eyeing the horizon. Cut in half lengthwise, grilled and drizzled with olive oil, it’s a lesson in simplicity.
“When I come home,†says my friend, “this is what I want.â€
Bar do Peixe
Rua Praia do Moinho de Baixo
Near the town of Alfarim, Portugal
+351.21.684.732
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Pork Me One More Time!!!
After finding pork and seafood variations on recent trips to Barcelona, Paris and Belle-Ile, clams and ham struck again during my first moments in Lisbon.
“We eat our words,†says my friend Pedro who’s shared a lifelong favorite place to eat, O Cacho Dourado, while explaining why the ‘o’s are often lopped off of either end of ‘obrigado’ when some Portuguese say thank you. We also eat carne de porco à alentejana with my lesson in local Portuguese 101.
As opposed to Cal Pep’s take on things, where the flavor the pork fat lends to the dish steals the show, here, it lends subtle depth of flavor, almost like tucking an anchovy or three into a slow-cooked meat dish.
Or, as Pedro puts it, “It keeps it from being boring.â€
O Cacho Dourado - MAP
Rua Eca de Queirós, 5
Lisbon
+351.213.543.671