I think every epicurian has a gastronomic refuge, a place he
knows will comfort him and feed his belly and his soul. That refuge for Josée and I is Ferreira Café in Montreal. Our good friend, Marino Tavares, is the chef and part owner at this Portuguese restautant and he has never let us down. Please don't take this wrongly but I have to say that when Josée and I want to get really serious about eating out, we much prefer it be just the two of us. Sitting across from each other at Ferreira's, we seem to experience a synergy that has grown over the 30 wonderful years we have been together.
Marino, above, is always there to greet us and to gage our mood for the evening. When he leaves the table with our menus in hand, we know we will be in for another impecable Portuguese food experience. Crevettes géantes grillées à la portugaise; Filets de sardines rôties à la fleur de sel; Morue noire rôtie en croûte de cèpes, réduction de porto; Gratin de morue salée, purée de pommes de terre. These are just some of the delights we've had at Ferreira's . What we love about Marino, though, is that he continues to innovate all the while keeping within the Portugese tradition of food preparation.
Portuguese cuisine is closely related to Mediteranian cuisine but with the addition of a number of unusual spices such as piri piri (small, fiery chilli peppers) and black pepper, as well as cinnamon, vanilla and saffron. Olive oil is used extensively both for cooking and flavouring meals. Garlic and herbs such as coriander and parsley. A typical dinner includes soup the most typical being is caldo verde with potato, shredded kale, and chunks of chouriço sausage. Among fish recipes, bacalhau (cod) dishes are pervasive. The most typical desserts are rice pudding and caramel custard, but they also often include a variety of cheeses. The most common varieties are made from sheep or goat's milk, and include the queijo da serra from the region Serra da Estrella. A popular pastry is the pastel de nata, a small custard tart sprinkled with cinnamon.
Josée's Portuguese menu:
Caldeirada
Rojoes Cominbo
Espinacas con Piõnes, Almendras y Chouriço
Arroz con Azafràn
Porto Pudim Flan
Figos Recheados
Caldeirada is a typical seafood stew made with shirmps, squid, red snapper and cod.
Portuguese corn bread.
The Rojoes Cominbo is braised pork with cumin, coriander and lemon.
Espinacas con Piõnes, Almendras y Chouriço: spinach with pine nuts, almonds and chouriço (spelled chorizo in Spanish).
Arroz con Azafràn (saffron rice)
Porto Pudim Flan: Portuguese baked caramel and port custard. (No, she did NOT use the 1985 Vintage Port in the custard.)
Figos Recheados; These little beauties are dried figs stuffed with almonds and chocolate and eaten warm right out of the oven; absolutely wonderful with the Vintage Port!
And last but not least, the poisons served up with this fantastic meal:
Ava, Vinho de Mesa Branco, Avaleda, Portugal
Chryseia, Douro, Prats & Simmington, 2006, Portugal
Post Scriptum de Cryseia, Douro, Prats & Simmington, 2007, Portugal
Warre's Vintage Port, 1985, Portugal
I have to tell you the letters on my screen are a little fuzzy this morning; must be something wrong with the computer...
Cheers,
Joseph Froncioni
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