Traditional Portuguese (junk) Food Posted by Gabriel on 10:58 pm

When most people think of Portuguese food, they associate it with the typical Mediterranean diet - lots of fish, olive oil, legumes, salads and plenty of wine.

They can usually identify one or two main dishes, typically codfish or sardines, and the emblematic “pastéis de nata”.

However, Portuguese cuisine is a veritable smorgasbord of flavours and dishes that gratify the taste buds and congest the arteries.

First off is the simple, unassuming “Bitoque”. This consists of either a beef or pork steak, fried in olive oil, lard or grilled and topped with a fried egg. It’s accompanied by white rice, some French fries, and a simple salad. This is the staple dish of taverns all over the country.  Almost healthy if it were not for the French fries and fat based sauce the steak is swimming in.

Next up is the “Francesinha”, a kind of heavy-duty sandwich, made the unhealthiest and yummiest way possible. Start with a slice of thick white bread, and then layer a fried pork steak on top, a slice or two of wet cured ham, linguiça, and then fresh sausage. This is topped off with another slice of thick bread, a fried egg, and a couple of slices of cheese. The “sandwich” is then put on a plate, surrounded by French fries, and covered in a spicy, thick, tomato and beer sauce, which causes the cheese to melt. Salad is never included, they don’t even attempt to trick you into thinking that this is remotely healthy. This is my personal favourite, and it’s unbeatable when paired with a hot summer evening, an ice-cold beer, a football match and good friends.

“Alheira de Mirandela” is a sausage made from a combination of tasty animals, namely duck, chicken, rabbit or veal, and bread. No pork though, as this was a scrumptious way for the Jews to deceive the Portuguese Inquisition (no one ever expects the Portuguese Inquisition…). This sausage comes from the Mirandela region, and is practically the only thing of note to come from that region (just kidding).The sausage is either deep fried in oil or grilled over hot coals. Tradition dictates that it is served with boiled greens and potatoes, but as that combination was far too healthy, it is frequently served with French fries, white rice and topped with a fried egg. Sometimes a small salad is included to trick the health conscience.

Lastly, you have “Leitão da Bairrada”, which is suckling pig roast over an open fire. It is seasoned using a garlic and pepper seed paste, giving it a distinctive flavour.  It is normally served with lettuce salad and orange slices, though many places also serve it with French fries. Surprisingly this is the only dish that does not managed to include a fried egg.

All of the above should be served with either an ice-cold national beer or a chilled white wine from the “vinho verde” region.

To top it off, some “ovos moles” from Aveiro, a caloric bomb whose explosive charge consists of egg yolk and sugar.  It's the quintessential Portuguese "dessert", because it contains the two most common ingredients in Portuguese sweets (egg yolk and sugar), but does away with all the unnecessary fluff, like looking tasty.

Now I’m hungry.

If you want to check out an excellent site with tantalizing pictures of food (with recipes, of course), visit http://foodgawker.com/

The Portuguese health system is better then the Canadian health system - surprised? Posted by João on 5:58 pm

This past monday at the Canadian Studies International Research Linkages Workshop Luso-Canadians and their Descendants in Canada and in Portugal I presented a paper entitled "When the idyllic becomes a myth: Portuguese-Canadian descendants narrate pre- and post-return to Portugal". The findings presented in this presentation where based on interviews carried out with 20 Portuguese-Canadian descendants that have returned to Portugal, either by themselves or with their parents or spouses. My main point of discussion was based on the arguement that Portugal, a country often perceived as fantastic and fun before returning, seldom maintains that reputation once return in accomplished.

From the interviews carried out, people talked about their ruptures with Portuguese society encounted upon return, mainly concerned with the inner workings of Portuguese society, ranging from bureaucracies, to corruption, to lack of friendliness, to discrimination; to more personal experiences as well, namely clash of values and responsibilities and different ways of being. Now among these points of frustration, one point in particular was often highlighted - that of the Portuguese health system.

Many recounted negative experiences of waiting long hours before being attended to in emergency wards, waiting months on end for basic surgery, the disorganisation of Portuguese health centres and the bureaucracies involved in such things as obtaining a simple appointment, not to mention the lack of information distribution among different medical units and labratories (how often we do see people walking around with ex-rays in envelops, having to deliver them themselves).

Now as I delivered my narrative findings at the workshop, it was these Portuguese health system concerns that the post-presentation debate centred on. Of course my interviewees based their tellings on their own dealing with the two health system worlds - the Canadian and the Portuguese. When someone mentions that Hospital Santa Maria in Lisbon (below to the left) looks like something brought over from the former Soviet Union and tells of the superior confort offered up by hospitals in Toronto (below to the right) (if in fact any hospital can bring any confort), he/she talks from personal experiences and perceptions.

From these experiences, however, one thing must be remembered: they are fixed in time. If one is to read stories concerning the Canadian health system these day, one will also come across stories of long waiting lists for operations as well as bed shortages. In fact, when it comes to comparing the health systems of the two countries, many are often surprised to find out that according to the World Health Organization Health Report of 2000 (don't think there's been one done since), Portugal placed ahead of Canada at number 12 with Canada coming in at 30.

Surely we all ask ourselves: how can this be? I certainly do ... and you?