Bachalau
One thing I've learned in my travels is that if you meet someone who speaks the language, latch on.
So my night in Porto I met a man from Brazil. He was a doctor who had been working in France for the last year and was visiting portugal before he left. We started talking because, in an effort to learn portugese, I had gone into a bookstore and asked for a portugese english dictionary. I thought I had gotten something like a phrase book, that would have both portugese to english and english to portugese but I soon discovered I got an dictionary for portugese trying to learn english so I can't understand most of it. But the main reason I had gone in to purchase it is so that I could figure out what I was eating. The portugese and spanish words for food are nothign alike.
Anyhow, back to the story. So I was asking this man, Wagner, about what food was good to eat in portugal and he mentioned he was going out to eat the specialty that night, bacalau, which is cod fish. I thought about the dried pasta I had in the kitchen and decided why not? It's best to go out to eat with someone who can speak the language. So he and I and a girl from San Francisco headed out to eat. The whole meal was an experience, he ordered for us and negotiated with the waiter, apparently (or so he said) true portugese don't necessarily order from the menu. So we had a jug of vino verde (a portugese green wine that is sparkling--- a bit like champagne), soup, bacalau which is cod fish that has been salted and dried and then is resoaked and baked with potatoes, olives, and onions, and a wonderful desert of a flan like pudding with a distinct orange flavor. It was divine.
I had asked before we went out if the 15 euro I had would be enough and he assured me it would but after such a large meal I was skeptical. Then the bill came. 29 euro total. less than 10 euro each. Have I mentioned I love portugal?
So my night in Porto I met a man from Brazil. He was a doctor who had been working in France for the last year and was visiting portugal before he left. We started talking because, in an effort to learn portugese, I had gone into a bookstore and asked for a portugese english dictionary. I thought I had gotten something like a phrase book, that would have both portugese to english and english to portugese but I soon discovered I got an dictionary for portugese trying to learn english so I can't understand most of it. But the main reason I had gone in to purchase it is so that I could figure out what I was eating. The portugese and spanish words for food are nothign alike.
Anyhow, back to the story. So I was asking this man, Wagner, about what food was good to eat in portugal and he mentioned he was going out to eat the specialty that night, bacalau, which is cod fish. I thought about the dried pasta I had in the kitchen and decided why not? It's best to go out to eat with someone who can speak the language. So he and I and a girl from San Francisco headed out to eat. The whole meal was an experience, he ordered for us and negotiated with the waiter, apparently (or so he said) true portugese don't necessarily order from the menu. So we had a jug of vino verde (a portugese green wine that is sparkling--- a bit like champagne), soup, bacalau which is cod fish that has been salted and dried and then is resoaked and baked with potatoes, olives, and onions, and a wonderful desert of a flan like pudding with a distinct orange flavor. It was divine.
I had asked before we went out if the 15 euro I had would be enough and he assured me it would but after such a large meal I was skeptical. Then the bill came. 29 euro total. less than 10 euro each. Have I mentioned I love portugal?
posted by mnlrs at 2:26 AM
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