I have just come back from a great 2-week family holiday in Portugal. It is not physically my first time there - I have had two sales conferences where we were put on a bus at Lisbon airport, taken to a hotel for long days of meetings, then whisked back to the airport - but my first time there for pleasure. The following comments may be unrepresentative of the country but are just first impressions. We stayed in the Peniche area - on the coast approximately 100 km north of Lisbon.

Generally, we thought that the retail sector - like Spain - had a healthy balence between supermarkets and family businesses. Peniche had a couple of foreign-owned supermarkets - Lidl from Germany and InterMarché from France but both seemed to sell mainly locally sourced food. In the village of Ferrel there were two "supermercados" which were family run and the size of a UK convenience store. In Peniche there was a covered market (more later) selling vegetables, meat and fish. Again these were small scale family operations selling local produce. With Peniche being one of Portugal's largest fishing ports there were also a lot of small fish sellers who would simply come with a few crates of freshly landed fish and sell them from a trestle table.

Vegetables: these were generally of a good quality and I assume locally sourced. They did not appear to be anything other than seasonal except perhaps turnips. In the supermarket they had about two deliveries a week and the quality visibly declined between deliveries - you did not have the impression that they had had fancy cold or inert gas storage. The variety was more limited than in the UK. There were the expected courgettes, aubergines, onions, carrots, leeks, garlic, lettuce, cucumber, peppers, runner beans, tomatoes and potatoes. However we were surprised not to see avocados and sweet potatoes we had seen in Spain. There was only one variety of lettuce but they were massive with a nice crinkly leaf. The potatoes seemed to have either a yellow or pink flesh; the former being widely used for boiling and for serving with fish dishes.

Herbs: there were few fresh herbs. Always corriander - interestingly some bunches were from VitaCress (a Hampshire company) but not sealed in bags. Sometimes there was flat leaf parsley. I never saw basil on sale.

Meat: the beef and pork on offer looked very good indeed. We tried thinly sliced meat from several sources (bife in Portuguese seems to refer to a thinly sliced steak rather than to "beef"!) and were always very happy with the taste. Chicken looked good though we did not buy it. Rabbit was widely available - we did not get round to this either.

Fish: the choice was outstanding at the fresh fish counters. I could not identify half of the fish! There were very good sardines, sea bream, mackerel, sea bass, moray eel, ray/skate, tuna and monkfish on offer among others. I was confused that a very long thin silvery fish was labelled with a word that looked like the Portuguese word for swordfish but seemed about a quarter or less of the cross-section I would think of. Some restaurants referred to "scabbard fish" but that is a new term for me.

Bakery and pastries: we went to a local padaria for rolls almost every morning. The passion around breakfast though appears to be for pastries. They were in offer in amazing shapes and sizes ranging from simple custard pies to puff pastry rolls with custard filling and glazed on top. The Portuguese must eat more puff pastry and custard per head than most other European nations!

Milk & cheese: we are not too keen on UHT milk but found that pasteurised milk was only found at InterMarché; like France the bulk of milk sold is UHT. We had never tried Portuguese cheese before and most ones that we tried were soft and creamy in taste. One looked like Edam with a red wax covering but turned out to be from the Azores. One cheese was hard and covered in paprika.

When I lived in Scotland I never heard of Cranachan. I suppose I only ate out in cheap curry houses, University cafeterias and chippies. About 3 years ago there was a recipe from Nick Nairn in an Independent supplement which we tried out at home. The result seemed to have different proportions from the photo in the supplement. The family complained that there was not enough oatmeal so we adapted the recipe a bit. We have also tried the same recipe with strawberries and blueberries.

 

Serves 4-6

250-300 g raspberries
300 ml double cream
100 g pinhead oatmeal (coarse oatmeal if you are outside Scotland)
50 g soft brown sugar
clear honey
whisky

Method

1. Heat a heavy frying pan on a medium heat
2. Mix the oatmeal and soft brown sugar thoroughly, breaking up the sugar lumps, and add to the pan
3. Keep stirring with a spatula
4. Ensure that the temparture is just high enough to met the sugar. If you move the spatula across the pan you see that where the spatula moves the sugar is just molten. If the sugar starts to smoke then reduce the heat, if the sugar is not melting increase the heat.
5. Keep stirring until there are no visible sugar grains. The sugar should now coat the oatmeal. Remove from heat.
6. Put the cream in a bowl. Add 1 tsp whisky - for my children I normally leave this out. Whisk until firm but do not turn the cream into butter!
7. Serve in glasses with layers of oatmeal, cream and strawberries
8. Heat honey (and optionally some more whisky) and squirt on top of the cranachan.
9. Finish with a little more raspberries and oatmeal.

NOTE: I have used other sugars when I was out of soft brown sugar. It did not work out well. For example muscavado sugar melts but does not coat the oatmeal like soft brown sugar does.

Today has been heavy workwise, a full day in our office followed by conference calls till 21:00. Still it has had its (heavily) FoodFun moments too.

At lunchtime my team wanted to take me out to a splendid local buffet. There were many different starters and despite taking small portions, they mounted up. One colleague wanted to be sure I tried different Andran curries, another thought I could not go without trying the Hyderabad biriyani. Despite turning down many appetising options, not least completely avoiding dessert it was a heavy lunch. I am amazed that with jetlag I did not fall asleep in my afternoon meetings.

After getting off my last conf call I had an appetite again. I had taken the calls in my hotel room so decided to try the other hotel restaurant - Peshwari. Not surprisingly it was North Indian food and I really wondered if it would be good this far south; of course having never visited N India my only measuring rod is what I have tried in the UK.

The restaurant was large with tables and stools. The centrepiece was a large glass panel behind which well-dressed tandoor chefs were at work. There were rows of long skewers and it looked like they were working in the heat.

When I saw the menu I thought I had better avoid starters & desert and choose one of the smaller maincourses. The lamb kebab sounded just the job. The waiter asked if I liked garlic -  - and recommended a garlic naan. He then pointed out that I had chosen two "dry dishes" and recommended a dall to accompany this; all very logical. I learned to cook dall from a sikh friend at university and would not regard a small portion as heavy.

 

Lamb Kebab

When I ordered this I expected some nicely marinated diced lamb done in a tandoor oven. It turned out to be a combination of lamb chops and pieces of a lamb shank. In both cases the bones seemed much finer than the lamb I have bought in the UK and I concluded that it was either from a different and smaller type of sheep or more likely from a younger animal.

The lamb was roasted in an incredibly good way. When I have done tandoori dishes (of course in a convential oven!) there have been pitfalls like the meat drying out, too much marinade left and carbonising on the meat, etc. The spicing was good yet there was not too much marinade to end up with carbon. Inside the lamb was pink and increbibly tender. Wish I could do it like that!

 

Dall

I have experienced or cooked homemade dall a lot. Indeed when my PhD funding ran out I lived on dall and pitta bread for a few months; a good diet for a student in penury! However this tasted different. The consistency was quite unlike any other dall and there was a surprising richness to it. Though tasty, it made the meal heavier than expected.

 

Garlic Naan

This is a family favourite if we order an Indian takeaway and supermarket naan is an addition to home-cooked curries. In UK restaurants there has been a huge range of quality but in general a naan has a relatively thick dough and fluffy texture.

(As an aside, I was amazed to have pizzas at a country restaurant in Tuscany a decade ago. I was used to rather doughy bases from supermarkets or US-style restaurants. The thin crispy texture and delicate, simple toppings were a revelation to me. Never wanted to touch a deep-pan pizza since then!)

It is probably not possible to see from the photo but this naan was quite different. Firstly, it was barely thicker than a chapatti but with a quite different dough. Secondly it was partly crisp - reminded me of flatbread in S. Turkey. Thirdly instead of the smeared garlic paste or few dots of garlic that naan's have in the UK, this was positively smothered with finely chopped garlic.

 

If that were UK supermarket garlic I guarantee my stomach would have been burning within minutes! It had to be very mild incredibly fresh garlic.

Questioning

Two of the waiters noticed that I had enjoyed the food and so I took the opportunity to test my hypotheses:

Firstly, they confirmed that the lamb was at most 8 months old. Probably helped its tenderness.
Secondly, the dall was prepared in an unusual way. It was firstly left in a tandoor oven for 24 hours. So, wouldn't it dry out? However it would be put in a tandoor with embers rather than hot charcoal. However the richness came from adding masses of cream and butter towards the end. He said 50%!
Thirdly, the waiters confirmed that they used garlic for the naan more or less straight from the ground.

With such a heavy dall, British Airways will need an extra 100 litres of fuel on Friday if we are to take off!

Today I tried what I understand is the common Andhra breakfast - a dosa.

The dosa is a sort of crispy pancake made from a rice and lentil batter. It is put onto a hotplate much as a crepe is prepared. The difference is that while a crepe comes out soft, the dosa is crisp on one side and rough on the other.

 

What amazes me about a dosa is that it can harden into interesting shapes. I have had conical ones at a Madras restaurant in London. The chef took the dosa above and served it to me.

 

My dosa was set into a roll and served with a thin lentil-based soup. Like the food nerd I am I took the photo (probably the other people eating breakfast thought I was off my rocker!).

 

The chef noticed that I took a photo but then complained that he had not served the condiments (left to right: curry leaf/coriander dip, coconut dip and hot chilli dip). He insisted that I take a new photo...

Much as I like hot, spicy food and have enjoyed trying new things I am not sure I would always like it 3 meals per day. I will enjoy my muesli.

At university many years ago, some Indian students said that Southern Indian food was quite hot. In Glasgow the local "indian" restaurants were owned by people who were Pakistanis or Sikhs from the Punjab. One of my best friends was a Malaysian Sikh who showed me how to make some dishes.

My first real experience of S. Indian cooking was when I lived in London and had a Tamil colleague. He said real Madras food is nothing like what you get in a British curry house (usually vaguely N. Indian and prepared by Bangladeshis). He took us out to a Madras restaurant in Drummond Street, just 200 metres away from Euston Station. The food was amazing:- large dhosas (a sort of thin pancake that is fried until crisp), vegetable curries and coconut and yogurt-based condiments. My second experience was in 2002 when I went to Bangalore; the food there was very mild which I think is a characteristic of Karnataka. So I have been looking forward to my first taste of Andra food - an Indian colleague from California warned me that it will be generally quite hot.

So first taste was to go to the Dakshin restaurant in my hotel for lunch (I am in the Kakatiya Sheraton); OK going to the hotel for food was not adventurous! The table was set with stainless steel bowls and a plantain leaf. Three condiments were offered - one coconut-based, one curry-leaf based and the third tasted of coriander. These came with plan papadums and a chilli papad that looked quite different from those I had seen in Indian shops in the UK. It was more yellow, thicker and in small pieces.

The menu covered different areas of Southern India but I thought it was worth exploring the Andhra section. Most of the names of dishes were quite unfamiliar and I did not write down what I ordered.

 

I had never had fish (other than barbequed prawns) before in India so was attracted to a hot dish based on a freshwater fish.

 

The fish had a fairly firm texture - slightly firmer than salmon - and came with a tasty but hot sauce. The red chilli did not overwhelm the other tastes but was hot enough for me to break out in a sweat. Apart from curry leaves I am not sure what other spices were used. It had a rich, satisfying taste. I was offered either "Indian breads" which turned out to be like a paratha or boiled rice. I chose the bread but in hindsight I think rice would have gone better.

Overall, it tasted very good; despite usually being disappointed with hotel food. Service was also good. In 2002 in a very opulent but inexpensive (it was $100/night but apparently is now >$400/night) I found the service over-attentive and smarmy; almost like they were competing for good tips. However the service here was genuinely helpful but not overdone. Prices though were at the sort of level I would pay at home - I suppose Sheraton pricing.

Well, I got into Bangalore on time - didn't sleep much on the plane - then picked up a connecting flight to Hyderabad. Just arrived.

I have never done an internal flight in India previously but have read that the internal network has developed a lot through since private companies entered the market. Jet Airlines seemed like a very western style airline at checkin in Bangalore. On board I was in economy class and surprised to be offered two drinks (orange juice and bottled water) before takeoff.

I was even more suprised when we were told we were getting a hot breakfast. Amazingly it came with china and metal cutlery - something you do not get in Europe unless you have a business class ticket. There was fresh fruit and to my surprise a hot course. It consisted of mashed potato with a little mustard and peas through it, a lentil curry that was fairly hot and 5 little disks about 3 cm across. I asked what they were and they were idli. These are apparently rice cakes and they were dusted with spices. A good airline breakfast and a change from the usual omellette or tired bacon.

Well, need some sleep though I am waking up again...

I am sitting at Heathrow terminal 4 waiting for my flight to Bangalore. If all is well after I return I just have 2 days at work then we have a holiday in Portugal. I have been once on a business trip to India and twice to sales conferences in Portugal. However for the sales conferences it was a case of fly in, 3 days of meetings in a hotel, fly out again without seeing anything of the country.

My history lessons at school tended to focus on British exploration with just snippets of what our other European neighbours did. I knew that the Portuguese opened up the Indian Ocean for Europeans but until recently was not aware of the Portuguese influence on Asian cooking.

Two things that surprised me were that the Portuguese are connected with both Japanese tempura and Indian vindaloo. I have forgotten my original references but basically:
a) Apparently Portuguese visitors to Japan taught deep fat frying to the locals in the mid 16th century. The word tempura may be related to a Portuguese word to heat in oil. When I was in Andalusia earlier this year the batter fried fish reminded me a bit of tempura.
b) the word vindaloo comes from the Portuguese vinha d'ahla (literally wine of garlic). Apparently this was originally pork cooked in wine and garlic but was transformed into its current spicy format by the Goans. I have never seen pork vindaloo on offer in a British curry house but that might be for religious reasons.

The history of food is complex and fascinating.

Is something wrong with blog.co.uk stats?

This blog averages 25-40 visitors per day and 30-60 pageviews. Today I have had 38 visitors and 859 pageviews...more pageviews than I had in any month from January to May! Much as this is good for my vanity I just do not believe that today's blog visitors each averaged about 20 pageviews

Too good to be true. Maybe the counter algorithm is on the blink!

I do not often have a cooked breakfast (too many kcal!) but I do like some of the elements of a Great British Breakfast. However too often it looks unappetizing with sausage and bacon in the middle of a lake of baked beans and pale fried eggs. Too often with puddles of grease too. My prejudice is probably because I am neither a fan of baked beans nor fried eggs. I also have an aversion to unnecessary grease!

 

However, particularly on holiday, whether in motorway service stations or airport cafes I see large numbers of people demolishing the GBB. The Daily Telegraph laments that it may be dying out within a decade in favour of the "cappucino culture" but I am not convinced. Some months ago I was amazed that the cafeteria at Malaga airport offered the GBB but no tapas in the morning.

So this leads to a new thought. How about a breakfast tapa?

 

...and that is my 100th posting on this blog