Today, after a having breakfast at my cousin’s coffee shop – galao and a proper bread cheese sandwich – I went to the fish market.
I like going to the fish market. I cannot tell a sea bream from a sea bass but I know my sardines from my soles. The market people know me and are always friendly. They also clean,descale, gut and cut the fish for you. Again proper service.
Descaling fish
Fish stall
On the stalls today there was ray fish and dogfish. Ray fish is a lovely fish – just boil it and serve it with green veg and lots of olive oil and chopped garlic. No idea about dogfish. It looks like a shark. Apparently it’s tasty.
Ray fish
Dogfish
But my favourite catch today and the star of the show was was the big squid. Lovely grilled. Just look at this beauty:
Big squid
The fish market is open every day until 1 pm except Mondays.
Chorizo sandwich – with extra chorizo slices on the side
So today I thought I’d start a diet. And by diet I mean not eating certain types of food and eating less of others; not diet as in “What is your diet? I follow a vegan diet” or ” My diet is very balanced”. I do follow a balanced diet – I have regular meals, eat greens and have fruit now and again (liquid grapes every day!).
Still my jeans are not as loose as they used to be 6 months ago, so I thought perhaps, seeing that summer will soon be here, I should try to be shed some pounds.
I started off rather well – freshly squeezed orange juice and fresh coffee. Had no time for my usual greek yogurt and granola as had to leave to go to the dentist. Good timing I thought. I mustn’t eat anything bad after my appointment.
So to the dentist I go. Couldn’t eat for an hour. Again this is good. Almost 12 o’clock and hardly any calories. Will get some salad for lunch and will have soup for dinner. That’ll be Monday and the first diet day over.
Before heading home I popped in to a coffee shop to visit a friend and just to see what they had. Perhaps I could sit and have a cold water with a slice of lemon or something. Ten minutes in and I’d had a cheese roll, a chorizo sandwich and a galão. I finished off my visit with a freshly baked coconut and chocolate cookie.
Moral of the story: the world is full of good intentions and Alentejo is full of good food.
Always have a bottle of wine at home for special occasions. You know, like a Wednesday.
Today I faced a predicament – I had no red wine at home! And today, Wine Wednesday, of all days. Epic failure is an understatement but Mr. Dionysus aka Bacchus was looking out for me as he often does, and a bottle of Montaria Reserva 2013 showed up in my kitchen. It was a near-miracle 😉
I first found Montaria on the Naked Wines site a few years back. It is from Alentejo naturally, and made with Syrah, Trincadeira and Aragonez grapes. It is a smooth, medium-bodied wine with hints of wild berries and dark chocolate and very drinkable. It will set you back less than the average glass of tinto costs you at your local. Unless you are in Portugal where it will cost you half of that… All in all a real bargain.
Pairs well with your after work tapas rendez-vous, your Sunday roast, your weekly curry night, your takeaway pizza, your cheese feast or you can just enjoy it on its own on a Wednesday Wine night.
Not to be confused with the Spanish word, which can mean plastic bag, sack, money or even jail depending on which Spanish speaking country you’re in.
In Portugal, a talego is a fabric “scrap-bag”. It’s a bag made from old bits of fabric, all different, sewn in a patch like pattern. It has a lining, a fastening cord usually made of fabric but it can be a string made of wool or another material, and may also have woolen pom-poms.
The traditional talego was like a mosaic, or a story-telling book with each bit of fabric coming from an old nightie, a faded shirt or a worn out dress. Today’s talegos are more likely to be made from new material.
In the olden days the talego was made mainly to keep and carry food – bread, tea, aromatic herbs, grains and peas. Some say a bride was meant to keep a couple in her “enxoval” as a good luck token.
In modern times the talego is not just to carry food in: it’s used to carry mobile phones, to keep jewellery in or to use, as I do, as a go-about-the-village handbag (I keep my purse, mobile, house keys, sunglasses and my lip balm in mine). When I carry it I feel like I am carrying a little bit of Alentejo with me.
In Alentejo the talego is mainly associated with the bag to put your bread though not many people use it to go buy their bread. However, I’m glad to say, it’s enjoying a revival in many restaurants where the bread basket is being replaced by the bread talego. I love it. It’s like having a bit of an old tradition having dinner with you. The fabric is meant to keep the bread fresher and when we are talking about the best bread in the world – well, you can’t put it in just any bag!
See below some of the talegos in my collection.
Traditional talego de retalhos – these two were my grandmother’sColumn talegos – made by my motherSingle piece of cloth talego or inteiriço – also made by my mother
ALENTEJO LINDO 