Cuisine – Portuguese inspiration

On my recent travel adventures, I was lucky enough to spend a week in Porto on the Portuguese Atlantic coast. Over the past 15 years, the central city has slowly been renovated and restored, but annoyingly, right now, there is a lot of disruption with the installation and extension of the underground public transport system.

However, this didn’t inhibit our exploration of the historic centre, as everything worth seeing is close by. The two day trips we took out to the Douro River Valley (wine and olive oil tasting, a boat trip and spectacular scenery) and a culinary tour (Sardine City, with a visit to the port and fishing village of Matosinhos, which included a factory viewing of sardines being packed by hand into little cans) gave us some reprieve from the endless steep hills we had to negotiate to get anywhere.

To get to the heart of any European city a first stop should always be the market. Mercado do Bolhão is the perfect example. The ancient building was completely renovated recently and even though we didn’t see many locals shopping there, the neatly laid out sections provided a stunning showcase of Portuguese food. Cheeses, meats, oils, wine, bread and baked items, vegetables and fruits, and artisan foods are sold with visitors in mind. The fish stalls were spectacular and almost everything was available to buy and taste on small trays for a tasting portion. Everywhere we looked, people were buying and scoffing.

The city’s restaurant and café scene was vibrant, too. I have no idea how many times I have repeated my mantra of “always book good restaurants before you leave home” but somehow that wasn’t quite so important in Porto. We managed to sort a few dinners by keeping our eyes open while exploring and booking just one day ahead at the places that were crowded with diners, rather than sparsely filled.

The meals that remain firmly in my mind involved rice. The Portuguese do wonders with baked and simmered rice dishes, and the recommended Octopus Rice we settled on one night was outstanding. Also brilliant was this tomato rice recipe. On our first night we went to a fish restaurant near the port and, after a succession of shellfish plates, including the famed perçebes, which looked like dinosaur toes, we were served a large turbot cooked over coals, accompanied by the traditional delicious tomato rice. It was the first thing I cooked on my return home, and although I used prawns, you could leave them out or even substitute cockles or mussels. This is a dish that will become part of my summer repertoire as it is so good and can be served as a main course, or as a side dish.

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Portuguese tomato rice with prawns

1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 generous cup risotto rice
400mls tomato passata or 1 can tomato pulp
2 cups stock (chicken or vegetable)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
12 large prawns (mussels or fish if you prefer)
3 stalks flat leafed parsley, stalks removed and leaves picked over
12 small cherry tomatoes, cut into halves

In a heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter in the oil and when it starts to sizzle, add the chopped onion.

Let the onion cook gently without browning for about 3-5 minutes until it is soft.

Stir in the rice and toss well to combine with the onion and allow to cook gently for about 2 minutes to ‘toast’ it.

Add the tomato passata or pulp with the stock and stir everything together well.

Bring to a very gentle simmer and allow to cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure that it does not catch on the bottom.

If the liquid is fully absorbed into the rice, just stir in a little extra boiling water as you want to rice to be quite fluid rather than sticky. Taste test the rice to be sure it is not chalky, and yet retains a lot of texture.

Stir in the tomato halves and simmer a further 2 minutes. Finally add the prawns just before you’re ready to serve and allow them to simmer very gently in the rice until they just lose their transparent look.

Adjust the seasoning to taste (in Portugal the rice was always quite salty) and serve in shallow bowls with the parsley leaves as a garnish.

Serves 4