Category Archives: Miscellany

A Sunday Lunch Lesson in Food Pairing

Nothing feels quite so decadent as a long lazy Sunday lunch.  And if it’s really good, you don’t need to worry about dinner, as you will still be deep in conversation with your friends and grazing the cheese board till … Continue reading

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Merry Christmas – Feliz Natal

Já recebi uma entrega das rabanadas frescas e ainda quentes!  Com um copo do vinho do Porto Tawny… fantastico. I just received a delivery of fresh, still-warm rabanadas!  This is a Portuguese dessert like french toast, but better than any … Continue reading

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Bacalhau Dourado

Read Golden Bacalhau in English. No último verão tive o melhor bacalhau de sempre no Restaurante Beira Rio, no Tua, e perguntei o nome e como era feito ao meu amigo que almoçou comigo nesse dia.  Ele disse que se … Continue reading

Posted in em Português, Miscellany, Portugal | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Um Copo do Vinho do Porto – A Glass of Port

Acho que o vinho do porto é o melhor vinho da meditação.  Rico, doce, descontraído, este copo do vinho inspira ideias, emoções, confiança, fé.  Hoje eu provei um vinho do porto feito por um amigo que tem uma quinta no … Continue reading

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New Year’s Resolution – em Português

One day last summer, in a tiny Douro village, I stopped at a café with colleagues.  Whilst they drank their coffee, I played with the sugar packets.  They were printed with words and phrases to demonstrate some recent changes in … Continue reading

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Censorship Protest

Generally I am not a very politically aware or involved person, the issues just feel way too big for me to either grasp or influence.  But this gets me where I live and work.  Whilst I am sickened by the … Continue reading

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Fair Transport: The Ship Tres Hombres

Whilst many people and firms in recent years have worked on developing sustainable production for a wide range of goods and fair trade and fair payment for their workers, the idea of fairness and sustainability failed when it came to … Continue reading

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Douro Lunch

Up in the Douro yesterday to visit Mateus Nicolau de Almeida in Meda and Foz Côa.  But first things first:  lunch! Mirandesa beef – a variety from Miranda do Douro in the northeast of the region, on the border with … Continue reading

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Look! No Photos!

After a month in the Douro for harvest (which was fantastic, by the way!) I spent less than 48 hours at home before leaving for another ten days in England and Italy. I found myself one morning waking up in … Continue reading

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Tractor Pin-up

Some weeks ago I was reviewing the stats on the blog, which include lists of what words or phrases people typed into search engines, that brought them into my blog.  I was utterly enchanted to find that “tractor pin-up” on … Continue reading

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