Auntie Pat Chronicles, Volume 2

Today is our second installment from Auntie Pat's cookbook - something rustic from Portugal.  I spent 3 weeks driving around Portugal last year during my Iberian sojourn and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The food, the wine and the friendly people made our trip here especially agreeable.

My journey took me from Faro, across the southern coast, up through Alentejo, across the Vasco da Gama bridge past Lisboa, via Obidos and back to Spain through the Douro valley.   Auntie Pat is very well travelled in Portugal and actually has her own little beach shack!  Here is her recipe for:

Arroz De Tomate

I have been going to Portugal for almost 30 years now and whilst I have seen an enormous shift towards the more ‘Cheffie’ type restaurants, on the whole it has been the original rustic places that have survived the various economics difficulties over those 30 years.

Traditional Portuguese dishes blend the flavours and techniques of many cultures, dating back centuries.  Phoenicians, Turks, Moors and Arabs are just a few of the people who have left their mark to create what is now Portuguese cuisine.

From the Arab countries around the Med came wheat, rice, citrus fruits, almonds sugar, saffron and salt. The Moors introduced Almond trees into the Algarve region, the Phoenicians brought wine and olives and the Turks taught the uses of sugar.

Access to the sea led to the discovery of new lands and exciting new ingredients and opened up superb trade opportunities and thus access to the abundance of ingredients seen in today’s Portuguese cooking.

Even though the country is small, there are some regional culinary differences and for my first piece on Portugal I will share with you a recipe from the Alentejo region which is a south central region and is separated from the rest of Portugal by the Tagus River and extends to the south where it borders the Algarve.  The name Alentejo  literally translated means "beyond the Tagus".

On one of my many trips into the Alentejo I stayed at a very basic tourist house on the edge of Evora.  This particular evening I was dining alone and didn’t want to stray too far from my base to eat.  I was directed to a somewhat dilapidated terraced house which was obviously the restaurant as evidenced by the aromas and crowds of people outside waiting for a table.  I didn’t much fancy waiting but by chance, I met 3 English speaking Portuguese who suggested I might like to make up a table of 4 and that way we would be seated sooner.  And it worked.  The recipe below is for the tomato rice I had at this restaurant gleaned from the instructions given to me by the little old lady who was the Cook.  I later found out that she was the Mother of the owner!!

Tomato Rice (Arroz de Tomate)

2 slices smoked bacon coarsely chopped

1 medium onion finely chopped

2 large very ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

2 tsps tomato paste

1 clove garlic finely chopped

2 cups water

1 tsp coarse sea salt

1 cup long grain rice

1tbs finely chopped parsley

6 small black olives to garnish

1.       Heat the bacon until just cooked

2.       Add and sauté the onion until lightly coloured, reduce the heat to low.

3.       Stir in the tomatoes with the garlic and cover and cook until the tomatoes are soft and partially dissolved, about 15 minutes.

4.       Add in the tomato paste and blend well

5.       Ass the water and bring to a boil over medium heat and add the salt

6.       Toss in the rice, stir and cover.  Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 mins.

7.       Stir in the parsley and continue cooking until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 5 to 10 mins.

8.       Fill a small custard mould or ramekin and pack firmly and immediately invert onto individual serving plates.

9.       After removing the mould top with a black olive and serve.

NB  You will need to adjust the seasoning to taste perhaps adding some black pepper.

*  For those of you who prefer something with a little zing, this recipe can be augmented with some fresh chilli.