Caldo verde... dal Portogallo

I am back from a wonderful trip in Portugal and from 28 degrees to only 12 here in Stockholm. You cannot leave Portugal without having tasted one of its famous soups and I did try many of them... they were really good!

A soup is perfect for this cold and rainy weather and the right occasion to try one of the recipes from my new Portuguese cooking book.

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Below you can see some typical Portuguese dishes that I tried and remembered to photograph...

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The first dish is a "Cataplana of clams", typical form the Algarve region. I tried this dish in the nice little fish village of Lagos (now quite tourist but nice) in the Algarve region (on the South cost of Portugal). "Cataplana" is the typical copper pot used to cook some Portuguese dishes. This was absolutely delicious!
The second dish is octopus cooked in oven with potatoes, onions, olives and parsley. I tasted this in the little town of Nazaré, on the Atlantic coast, not too far from Lisbon.

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Below are some Portuguese desserts that I tried...

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The one in front is called "pastéis de nata" (a cream tart), which actually is my favorite one. It is believed that it was created before the 18th century by Catholic Sisters at the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos of Belém in Lisbon.

The one on the back in the photo is also very good, it is made of almond, it is moist and not too sweet... really good too.

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The small cakes above (photo on top) are from the little town of Sintra, they are quite nice but VERY sweet... a bit too sweet for me. The three on top are puff pastries filled with a cream made of egg yolks and sugar, energetic and sweet.

The two small cakes above (photo at the bottom) are from Aveiro and they are called "Ovos-Moles", they are made of host filled with egg yolks and sugar... and very sweet.

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Here are few postcards from some of the places that I visited n Portugal...

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Above on the left you can see a building in the "Alfama" district, the old town in Lisbon and the part where you can see most of the Arabs influence in the architecture. Typical from Portugal and you will find many in Lisbon are the "azulejos", tiles (usually white with blues painting) that cover the outside walls of most of the buildings... they ate beautiful and really impressed me a lot, they give a special atmosphere.

To the right in the photo you can see "sé", cathedral in Portuguese with the typical red trams that are still working in the old town.

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Above you can see one of the most famous monument in Lisbon... the Belém tower. It used to be placed in the middle of the Tejo river outlet, with the geographical changes of the territory it is now placed on one bank of Tejo.

Above you can see the Dom Luís I bridge in Porto, which was designed by Eiffel, and the boats that were used once to bring the Port wine to Porto via the Douro river.

Tomar is a nice little town on the hills in the region of Rebatejo and here you can find the Christ Convent, classified in UNESCO's International Heritage list (12th-16th centuries), with its famous Manueline window, it is the town's supreme landmark.

Above you can see the Diana Temple from Roman time in the city, which is the city's most famous landmark.

Here to the right you can see a photo from Castelo de Vide. Dating from Roman times this little village on the hill has preserved within its walls a remarkable patrimony: churches, fountains, mansions, Gothic doorways and the characteristic maze-like Judiaria (Jewish quarter), with its small white houses, cobbled alleys and a synagogue dating from the 13th century. Here you can also find the carved stone fountain of "Fonte da Vila" or the 13th-century chapel of São Salvador do Mundo (Saviour of the World). The walls of the Castle (now in ruins) gave the town its name.

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Above you can see some detailed houses in Albufeira (in the Algarve region). Situated on the extreme South of Portugal, this part of the territory was the last to be conquered from the Moors by the Portuguese king in 1292. Traces of the Moorish presence are still seen in its unique terraces, chimneys and whitewashed houses.