Ok Pico
You asked for it, now don't go complaining… ;)
I LOVE shopping for food, cooking & have people over for a meal, i think it's the best thing in this world : people breaking bread together !
I don't prefer this cuisine or the other - everyone has delicious dishes & some that i eat less often or skip.. - although in general for every day eating i focus around portuguese, italian, french, greek, mexican, chinese, thai, japanese. Add to these some english, irish, scottish & german, hungarian, russian dishes & i'm amply satisfied !! ;)
Fortunately in Portugal it's easy to buy high quality food at reasonable prices most everywhere, the cost of wines, beers & spirits being positively laughable.
What can become expensive is high quality fish, freshly picked clams & mussels, shellfish + stuff like smoked /cured meats, cold cuts & such..
A couple of stapplemates in our cooking are Black pork of Alentejo - a portuguese species ( Spain also has variants as well.. ) that are raised in the open plains, foraging on 100% natural acorns, fruit & veg in untouched landscapes..
& of course our BELOVED dried/salted cod fish wish we've fished for ages in the New Foundland sea banks & off the Norwegisn coast, etc…
After being brought to land, the fish is gutted, opened up the middle & layered in sea salt & hung to dry in the sun at a certain angle
Prepared this way, you can store it in a dark dry place for months & it won't go bad - when time comes to eat it, you cut it in pieces, place it in water for a nº of hours, it regains it's original size & shape & is ready to cook. However, the salting/drying process adds a unique & fantastic flavour to it - totally different from fresh cod !
Now, what i eat - being a small list it's easier to start by what i NEVER eat :
Anything w/ cartilages, internal organs - liver, brains, kidneys, tripe, tongue, pig's trotters, pig's ears, real fatty meats, etc… might like the taste of their sauces on bread but the textures make me SERIOUSLY gag :( my loss i guess ?..
Then my favourite foods in winter are any kind of ''comfort foods'' as stews w/ veg, thick pipping hot soups w/ or without croutons, oven made roasts w/ all the trimmings & being portuguese, there are a few cod fish recipes that i absolutely love..
In warmer weather, since i tolerate heat badly i take refuge in grilled fishes, shellfish ( raw or cooked.. ) sushi with the occasional grilled meats/poultry thrown in for good measure, specially at dinner time when it's cooler : a big heavy lunch in days going from 30 to 45ºCentigrade ISN'T my idea of fun…
LOVE any type of cheeses, butters, cream, double cream, sour cream, ICE CREAM !!….. cold cuts, sausages, hams, breads ( ONLY home made, wood oven baked.. ) the whole washed down by generous amounts of fantastic wines, beer or our sangrias ( white or red, w/ all sorts of fruit inside, loads of ice, etc.. ) in summer ''Vinho verde'' is a firm favourite - fizzy, slightly acidic, fruity but dry, low alcohol content & stupidly cold makes it one of the most dangerous - it feels like drinking a light refreshment so you easily drink a lot of it & when you TRY to get up, it's like the planet collapses under you & you sit back down FAST !!!…LOL… DANGEROUS stuff guys !!
We also have a reasonable selection of quality locally made spirits, some endogenous to us & others which have their respective equivalents in your countries
Please DON'T mention rosé wines, i am deeply sorry & apologise profusely to all the countries we invaded w/ our stuff…LOL…. 90% of them are bottom of the barrel CRAP, the remainder 10% are GORGEOUS and drunk by their respective producers & RARELY are sold !
Since i don't have photos of things i cook ( never occured to do it.. ) i'll post some YouTube links, all as short as possible, about portuguese dishes since those will be the most ''exotic'' to you guys, OK ? Hope you enjoy it
Tacky promotional video but their Cataplana is good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmkz0cfcqP0
A long show by a guy who rocks - Anthony Bourdain & it mixes music, food a bit of the mood etc.. - it focus in the Lisbon region but it's well made
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QU9T2dDZlg
Not much to do with food but shows the south, the Algarve where i live only in a new way of living people are more & more adhering to..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt9G8-zcmy0
One day i'll post photos of stuff i cook ;)