My Portugal: Recipes and Stories

Portugal recipes .. easy recipes & photographs .. Book very done done..

If you're Portuguese or are interested in knowing about the food and culture, may I suggest you read this book! We love it, the photos and recipes. Highly recommend it!

Authentic

I purchased the kindle edition, and it is formatted much better than a lot of other cookbooks for kindle, but the photographs are quite small. There are a lot of photos, although there seem to be more of the people and places from Mendes' life and around Portugal, rather than of the actual dishes. Quite a bit of this cookbook is focused on Mendes' life and path towards becoming the chef he is today.Mendes presents "modernized" takes on classical Portugese cooking here, although some of the basics like caldo verde are left the same. He has gone to substantial trouble to ensure that everything is accessible for the home chef. The layout of each recipe is clear and easy to follow. The instructions are concise but very precise, and measurements are given by cup and the metric system. Each recipe starts with a few sentences of introduction and a special equipment section (if required). Additionally, every recipe requiring special equipment has a variation at the bottom for how the dish can be made without the "elevation".I love that Mendes gives a double set of instructions, so that I can choose to make the fancy version of bacalhau à brás (as an example) requiring special kitchen equipment (siphon with an NO₂ converter) or the same dish more simply. It looks like there are a few places where there is not an explicit note, but workarounds are stated directly in the instructions (as with the duck rice). It is a bit of a shame that he suggests discarding the chicken breast meat because it gets too dry and stringy for the canja, but I'm sure I can think of my own workaround.You should like fish and pork to fully utilize this cookbook, but there is also a substantial vegetarian section here, all of which sound delicious (coconut-saffron cauliflower and broccoli, goan eggplant curry, smoked baby beets, etc). The roasted squash soup is the only thing I've had the chance to make so far. It is quite tasty, and perfect for fall.

I love this cookbook because it's George Mendes' personal story combined with wonderful and approachable recipes. It's a beautiful book but should be used in the kitchen, not just left to look good on the coffee table. I've made several recipes and love the fact that there's an attention to detail in the instructions as well as the chef's notes and comments on the side. The arroz de pato is well worth the effort......delicious.

Found this book at William Sonoma and purchased on Amazon for a fraction of the price. Beautiful photos

Wonderful book I really enjoy it

Great book with experiences and wonderful recipes. Came well shipped and in a very timely manner.

Bought for my son-in-law for his birthday. He had just returned from Portugal and really liked the pictures and recipes

Purchased for Portuguese GF, we both love the book. Classics and modern takes on the recipes and very well presented, you can't mistake the Portuguese influence.

Merece muito a pena pela abordagem interessante à cozinha portuguesa. Um excelente Chef que aporta valor à já por si rica cozinha portuguesa.

In seguito ad un viaggio in Portogallo, leggendo su blog Statunitensi delle ottime presentazioni di questo libro, mi sono precipitato ad acquistarlo per un regalo.Il libro però mi ha un po' deluso: le ricette contenute rappresentano reintepretazioni a mio avviso troppo distanti dalla cucina tradizionale portoghese che ho assaggiato. Mancano le proposte su moltissimi piatti della tradizione portoghese: su 125 ne trovo appetibili una ventina. E fin qui, dipende dal mio gusto personale.Quello che trovo inaccettabile è che molte ricette siano prive della fotografia del piatto: diventa difficile immaginarsi il risultato, e non conoscendole diventa difficile trovare l'incentivo a cucinarle.Ho ottimi libri di cucina italiana privi di figure: per un libro di cucina "non locale", un aiuto visivo sarebbe importante.Tanto più che nel libro ci sono un sacco di fotografie dello chef tipo "fotomodello", senza nemmeno il piatto cucinato in mano!

George's recipes are well written and clear, and contain enough detail to help the home cook create wonderful Portuguese food at home. The "method" chapters - refogado, shrimp essence, piri piri sauce, etc. - distinguish this book, and help the attentive home cook achieve truly outstanding results. This book is a keeper - having it is like having a mentor with you in the kitchen.