I cannot help but to continue immersing myself into Portugal’s culture, history and food. I recently came across two dishes that made me want to dig deeper.
The first dish came by way of an article I read titled, “The sausage that saved a thousand Jews.” I came across a recipe for a sausage called alheira. It was invented by the Sephardic Jews of Portugal, who in 1497 were given the choice of either being expelled from the country or convert to Christianity.
Those who converted secretly retained their beliefs avoided eating pork. This put them at risk of being noticed not to hang sausages, traditionally made of pork, in their smokehouses. As a way to avoid attracting the attention of the Portuguese Inquisition, the converted Portuguese Christians began to make sausages from other meats such as poultry and game, mixed with bread for texture — not pork — then hung them in their smokehouses.
Sausages were originally made in a time of no refrigeration. So, when you slaughtered an animal, you ate what would spoil first and then tried to extend the life of the other parts for future meals by preserving, smoking or salting them. Part of that process was turning them into sausages and other charcuterie. Today, you can find any kind of meat sausages — think duck or rabbit — and they usually contain a percentage of pork for its flavor and fat.
I came across another story or legend: Pigs from the Algarve region were fed fish meal and scraps from a nearby fish-canning factory. It resulted in pork that tasted fishy. To mask the flavor, they cooked it with clams.
I had to laugh because I tell cooks that when something stinks, pair it with something more stink. Just to clarify — it’s not spoiled or rotten, just stinky, like fish sauce.
I came across a Portuguese meal called porco a alentejana, which is a dish of pork and clams. It is one of the most popular dishes of Portuguese cuisine.
It immediately reminds me of Colin Nishida of Side Street Inn, who put “Pocho Clams” on his menu a long time ago. We miss Colin dearly.
I used to serve a dish called Da Bag, combining kalua pig and Manila clams. You can make so many variations of surf-and-turf dishes using all types of shellfish in combination with different varieties of pork. The pork can be a sausage, bacon or pancetta; they all give great flavor and body to a dish.
Being on the North Atlantic Ocean, Portugal is blessed with an abundance of seafood. One of its seafood stews, caldeirada, is a Portuguese fish stew.
It’s so natural to cook with what’s around you; this becomes regional cooking at its best. When you have great ingredients, you want to feature the ingredient. An example of highlighting the ingredient is grilled sardines served with Portuguese olive oil or a chimichurri of sorts.
I really enjoy researching a destination and its popular foods before getting there. It makes me look forward to the trip even more. Whether I get to eat it all or not, making an eat wish list gives me a better understanding of what I choose to do and prioritize on the trip.
Portuguese cuisine is one of the most misunderstood in Hawaii. When an ethnic dish comes to Hawaii from another country, the dish evolves, usually because people have to use what they have here. Sometimes, it adjusts to the local palate.
Over time, this becomes the norm and what we think to be the dishes of that country — until we actually go to that country, explore and discover it ourselves.
Chef and restaurateur Alan Wong has wowed diners around the world for decades, and is known as one of the founders of Hawaii Regional Cuisine. Find his column in Crave every first Wednesday. Currently, Wong is dba Alan Wong’s Consulting Co.
