What the...?!? Portuguese food and my kids

Fresh clams: devoured. Cod fish: total crowd pleaser. Bean & meat stew: a resounding YESSSSSSSS! Octopus, blood sausage, slimy sea creatures...sure, we'll try.

My kids enjoy the food here. Why?

They order vegetable soup for a snack.
Mom and dad opt for coffee and pastry.

It's not me: I am not a great cook. Being daughter #4, I always let those who "could", "do", and I cleaned up. I am very good at cleaning :)

I attribute two main reasons for my kids' ever expanding palates and willingness to try new foods:

1. Freshness: Accessible and affordable, fresh ingredients are the norm. I have yet to see a deep freeze in anyone's home! People generally shop daily: meat, fish, produce, bread. I buy fish and seafood at the market, often caught that day or the day before, and we're eating it by 1pm. Fruit is bursting with flavour--the climate is conducive. Fruit trees are everywhere, and make up part of the public landscape. On our walks, our kids have picked and eaten fruit right off trees: oranges, figs, lemons, loquats, avocados, pomegranates, apples...and we're only coming into summer now. Who knows what else we'll find?
FRESH tastes GOOD.

One of the 8 stalls in the fish market.
The fisherman sell their fish to the mongers long before we're even awake.

One of the 6 produce stalls at the market.
All grown pretty locally.

Picking loquats just behind our building

2. School lunches: Baptism by fire--my kids dove into the cultural gastronomy via school lunches. They were exposed to lots of new foods surrounded by friends: anything they were not familiar with, well, positive peer pressure nudged them to try it.  Boiled potatoes? They love them, drizzled with olive oil. Baked fish? I'm told they ask for seconds. Vegetable soups daily? Thrice now, when I've ordered coffee and pastry for afternoon snack, they request the cafe's vegetable bean soup. Who are these children?!

So, OK: Jonty has always been an adventurous eater. For his 8th birthday (back in Canada), he requested roast lamb, roast potatoes & onions, and brussel sprouts(!).  But our girls came with pretty typical Canadian food preferences.  We are pleased and proud: not all food is a hit, but they are willing to try try new, foreign foods.  I'm good with that!

Interesting note: you won't find baby carrots, mini cucumbers, goldfish crackers: do you think it has to do with universal school lunches? And seedless grapes are harder to find. Seeded grapes and my kids, NOT a match!

Portuguese Gastronomy:

Portugal has been a nation for over 900 years. Centuries of battles and rule by monarchy and dictatorship kept the majority of people poor. Because of this, the food is very simple, made from inexpensive, basic ingredients, readily available. Not like, for example, the rich French cuisine, made with elaborate ingredients.  Most main dishes have, as a base: onion, garlic, lemon and cilantro, and either fish, beans or meat. Desserts are made from: eggs, flour, sugar.

As a "foreigner" trying to cook new Portuguese dishes, I find it very helpful that Portugal is a mono-culture: ie, everyone knows how make it all.  When I want to make "feijoada" (the bean and meat stew my family SO loves), I tell the butcher what I'm making, and he knows what meats I need, and how I need them cut.  Blood sausage, chourico sausage, pork ribs, back bacon, pig's snout & feet (I have yet to add those to my pot!)...

And despite being such a small country, each town/region has a nationally recognized dish and/or dessert. So wherever we go, we try to eat what that town is known for. The variety is remarkable, and we have not been disappointed yet.

When we eat out, we generally order a few different desserts to expand our horizons.
Yes, it's a hard life.

Meal times:

This took a little getting used to, but we're as close as we're gonna get!  Oi, just in time to transition back to our Canadian schedule...

My favourite breakfast: fresh cheese, warm bun, and a latte.
We plan to make the cheese ourselves when we get back

• Breakfast is when we're up: milk, fresh bread with fresh cheese, fruit. Our kids still love porridge.
• Lunch is the main meal here, and typically eaten around 1pm. Soup, main (fish, meat or beans), dessert, fruit, wine. 
• Lanche is afternoon snack, usually around 5pm. Yogurt, fruit, sandwiches, pastries...anything goes, but it's light.
• Supper is around 7/8pm. Soup is a staple.  A light meal, which we love--makes the evening more relaxed for sure.

Now, this photo collage does not do justice to the many wonders of the Portuguese gastronomy, but it's a start. You'll have to come here to taste it for yourself!

So simple, yet, so good! The makings of seafood stew.

Portuguese sausage, presunto, lots of types of cheese (goat and cow) and fresh bread.
Perfect for supper on a hot day!

Razor Clams - a first for us all.
Google how they're caught, it's cool!

I'm married to a foodie.
He makes a delicious Arroz de Tamboril - Monkfish Rice.

Grilled Octopus - chewy, yet satisfying.

Baked Corvina - fresh from Sesimbra.
Grilled fish is our favourite weekend lunch! 

Seafood rice in Alcacer do Sal
The rice is grown about 20m from the restaurant, and the seafood caught a short drive away.

Name that fruit
Quince, sugar-apple and persimmon.
Trying new foods.

Hmmm, maybe our view contributes to the enjoyment of our food?
Yeah, maybe.

COVID19 Update - April 22, 2020

• Portugal is dubbed Europe's "little miracle" for it's quick flattening of the curve and containment of the virus
• Portugal's number of recovered patients (912) surpasses the number of deaths (785)
• Portugal's peak is considered to have passed (having happened on March 23-25)
• Portugal leads the world in testing - 31,000 tests/million population; Canada is at 17,000
• Canada (population 3X that of Portugal) sits at 40,190 cases and 1,974 deaths; Portugal sits at 21,982 and 785 respectively
• United States hits 48,000 deaths--doubling the deaths in the former epi-centres of the pandemic of Italy (25,085) and Spain (21,717)