Portuguese Homestyle Cooking by Ana Patuleia Ortins

Available from Amazon at around €22.00, it is a hardback, 240 page book, worth every cent.

The author of this book is a Portuguese-American, who’s father and grandparents moved to the USA in 1937 for a better life. Her father passed on many stories and traditions about Portuguese cooking to Ana and she now shares some of them with us through this book.

The book is a riot of information and recipes. Ana includes a note or a story with every recipe to give an insight into her family life and Portuguese traditions. All the measures and quantities are in the American system but there is a useful set of conversion tables in the back. Some of the American ingredients and cooking terms she uses are unknown to Europeans, however if you have any difficulties Ana includes her email address in the book and she would welcome any questions. You can also join her website for even more recipes. The book is not just a cookery book it is a delight to read. As you read it you will be inspired to try something new, this year our family will have Bacalhau de Consoada for Christmas Eve dinner, made to Ana recipe. The recipe can be found in Hey Portugal Magazine edition 2.

Ana starts the book with a glimpse into the life of a Portuguese expat America and tells how her father taught her how to cook. She goes on to describe typical Ingredients, Methods and Equipment used in Portuguese cooking, then takes you through Soups, Fish, Sausages, Meats, Vegetables, Breads and Sweets and finishes with a few pages about Wines. If you want to learn how to cook traditional Portuguese food in the Portuguese style, then this is the book to buy.

The only way the book could be improved is by adding more photos of the fabulous food that is described in the recipes. Even if you have spent many years in Portugal there are some dishes that you will have not seen and a visual point of reference is important, especially for the breads.

You can buy this book from Hey Portugal Bookstore