FoodComida Macanese cuisine blended, in a unique fashion, ingredients and flavours from Portuguese settlements and trading-posts spanning half the globe – from Brazil, Mozambique, Goa and Malacca, of course from Portugal and China – and with traces from as far as Japan. We find hot chillies from Brazil, curries from India, coconut and strong shrimp […]
Terra de Bacalhau Cod Countryby Giovanni PereiraFirst published in the UMA News Bulletin under the pen-name “Caramba”The consumption of cod fish is deeply rooted in Portuguese gastronomic culture. This predilection goes back to the time of Os Descobrimentos Portugueses (Portuguese Discoveries in 15th Century) when fishermen ventured into the icy waters of the North Atlantic.
OS VERDINHOS by Giovanni PereiraFirst published in the UMA News Bulletin under the pen-name “Caramba” The fine wines of Portugal are unfortunately mostly unknown abroad, with a few exceptions like Port and the popular rosés like Mateus and Lancer. Yet this rugged handsome country produces some of the most unique and diverse varieties of world class
O VINHO DO PORTO by Giovanni Pereira First published in the UMA News Bulletin under the pen-name “Caramba” In 1997, the Wine Spectator, an important American publication, included two Ports amongst the Best Wines of the Year, namely the 1994 Vintage Ports of Taylor and of Fonseca. It is apt that an English House and
MOUNTAIN FIREWATER by Giovanni Pereira There is a spirit in the Algarve. It’s pure and crystal clear. No secret recipe, no additives and the Algarveans still know how to distill it in their own homes! It’s derived from the most characteristic shrub in the serra hilly regions of the Algarve – the arbutus or strawberry
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COMIDAS REGIONAIS DE PORTUGAL Regional Dishes of Portugal Giovanni PereiraFirst published in the UMA News Bulletin under the title Impressions of the Algarve Part II, with the pen-name “Caramba” Jean Anderson, one of the best food writers in America and a regular visitor to Portugal for over thirty years had this to say about the
minchi: An Odysseyby Armando (Pinky) da Silva(An edited version of an article originally published in the UMA Newsletter)The odyssey of minchi starts with Kheema, the term used by many Indians for finely minced meat usually of goat and lamb. When Portuguese seafarers arrived in India in 1498 they wanted to affirm and distinguish themselves as
FESTA DAS SARDINHASby Giovanni PereiraFirst published in the UMA News Bulletin under the pen-name “Caramba”Each year, in early August, a week-long celebration is held in the Algarvean coastal city of Portimão, which does its best to earn its nickname as the “Sardine Capital of the World”.The town itself goes back many years. It once had a
ConsoadaChristmas Eve SupperMeno Baptista Filhos de Macau of pre-Vatican 2 era took their religious obligations very seriously, religiously observing all the Holy Days of Obligations, abstaining from eating meat on Fridays and other proscribed days, confessing and receiving the Eucharist at least once a year as required by Church law. They attended, en masse, the
Christmas Customs of Macau Rudolfo Baptista An article that first appeared in the Hong Kong Sunday Examiner in 1959 For generations the people of Macau have faithfully observed some beautiful Christmas customs taught them, probably, by the missionaries and nuns who were among the earliest settlers in that outpost of the Portuguese empire. When many
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