Casa
Martin
Cookbook
Welcome to a personal selection of recipes from a small house in the Algarve
Portuguese cooking is one of the overlooked and underrated cuisines of Europe. Most of the few available books on the subject in the UK tend to lump it together with Spanish cooking and as in all things Iberian it tends to get short shrift because of the relative size of the two countries.
Whilst there are undoubtedly many similarities which is hardly surprising in view of the geographical closeness of the two countries there are distinct differences especially in regard to seasoning, the Portuguese making far more use of the spices brought back from their empire building in the middle ages onwards. You will notice much more use of chilies, "Indian" spices such as cumin and the ever present leaf herb coriander.
This selection of recipes in no way claims to be "authentic" Portuguese cooking but it contains recipes specifically written for anyone staying in Portugal in self catering accommodation from the humblest apartment to the grandest Villa bearing in mind limitations imposed by being in a strange kitchen in a strange country without a well stocked store cupboard full of the bits and pieces that we ordinarily rely upon.
I have also included some of our own favourites that are not strictly Portuguese but which we have enjoyed when staying at the house.
In the height of the summer it really can get very hot and the recipes heavily lean towards the light and healthy but as you will see this does not need to mean any reduction in tastiness.
When we first visited the Algarve over 15 years ago "international" ingredients were difficult to obtain although good local produce was available at very reasonable prices.
Now at the beginning of the 21st Century there is a much wider range of ingredients available and the local produce is more varied and despite some years of high inflation and IVA (VAT) on all food it is, compared with the UK, very good value for money.