| Food & Drink - History |
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| Tuesday, 20 October 2009 00:39 | |||||
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Though less than 30 years old when he started his School of Navigation, Prince Henry the Navigator was a significant factor in Portuguese cooking. He was a true scientist, and ordered his explorers to bring back from new lands fruits, nuts and plants.
In 1420, he sent settlers to colonize the newly discovered island of Madeira. With them he sent plants he believed would thrive in the volcanic soil and subtropical climate, including grapevines from Crete and sugar cane from Sicily, both indispensable today. Even more significant was Vasco da Gama's discovery of the water route to the east in 1497-98. As a result of it, he brought back black pepper and cinnamon that soon became precious to Portuguese cooks. Cinnamon is perhaps the most beloved spice in Portugal today. Curry powder is another bonus from Vasco da Gama's voyages. Its function is to mellow the other ingredients in a large repertoire of soups and stews, rather than set food afire. Portuguese navigators became couriers, bringing New World foods to the Old and vice-versa. Mediterranean sugarcane was cultivated in Brazil; Brazilian pineapples were introduced to the Azores; tiny, Brazilian chili pepper was brought to another important Portuguese colony, Angola, early on. These chili peppers are now known by their African name, piri-piri. The piri-piri sauce (a mixture of oil and vinegar strewn with minced chiliis) is as popular a table condiment in Portugal as salt and pepper. Other exchanges thanks to the Portuguese: * African coffee was transplanted in Brazil * Brazilian cashews landed in both Africa and India * Oriental tea plants arrived in the Azores Tomatoes and potatoes came to Portugal in the 16th century. The Romans who established colonies in Portugal probably introduced Onions and garlic, indispensable to any Portuguese cook. They most likely brought wheat, olives and grapes as well. It's known that the Romans were making wine in Alentejo as early as the 2nd century A.D. The Moors, who occupied a large chunk of Portugal from the early 8th to the mid 13th century, planted rice (now growing on the west coast), and covered the Algarve slopes with almond trees. They also planted figs, apricots and groves of lemons and oranges. It was the Arabs who invented the "cataplana" a sort of primitive pressure cooker. The food inside steams to supreme succulence. What goes into a cataplana depends upon the whims of the cook, and on what's available. The most famous cataplana recipe is ameijoas na cataplana, clams with rounds of sausage and cubes of ham in an intensely garlicky tomato sauce.
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| Last Updated on Saturday, 16 January 2010 13:20 |
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