Carapaus Alimados - Salted Lemon Mackerel

I had been thinking about writing this post for a while, but first I had to get over the idea of cleaning the fish. I have to confess gutting and cutting the heads off a fish, or anything else for that matter, is well, not exactly my cup of tea. So, when a family member and pro at this told me she was making “Carapaus Alimados” (salted lemon Mackerel) for lunch the next day…I shamelessly confessed my plight and asked to witness this time old Algarvian recipe.

Carapaus Alimados Portuguese Dish

Carapaus Alimados is a simple, but unique dish of partially salted mackerel, served with quality olive oil, tons of fresh garlic and fresh squeezed lemon juice to top it all off. I haven’t been able to confirm this, but the “Alimado” leads me to believe the name is possibly derived from the final flavoring of lemon on the fish when served. But if anyone knows different, I love hearing where things come from and how they got their name so feel free to contribute your insight. Back to the fish…the fish goes through a temporary salting process that gives it unique flavours and texture, then a light boil and finally the skin is removed, to then be served with oil, garlic and lemon. If you have to clean the fish yourself its a bit of work, but a very nice dish that’s definitely worth a try.

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Garage Band Contest - Abril Bandas Mil, Olhao

Ever dreamt of being a RockStar?

If you’ve ever secretly played air guitar in your room or dreamt about actually having a band perform on stage, well you might just get your chance this April. If your air guitar has turned into a real guitar or any instrument for that matter, the city of Olhao along with the Associação Movimento Juvenil (MOJU)/ Youth Movement of Olhao is sponsoring a contest for “garage bands” called “Abril Bandas Mil”. Giving garage bands of all types the opportunity to jump on stage and make their dream a reality. Read more

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Festival de Chocolate - Chocolate Adventures Update

Exciting and full of adventure but not quite in the way we thought : (

First, I had been hoping my nose would have lead me straight to chocolate nirvana as soon as we arrived. Yet, there was no smell of chocolate….hummmm? The weather wasn’t really on side but we planned to arrive in early in Obidos and miss the insanity we heard so much about, and although we arrived early there were already people bustling to get in.

As we walked into the old city through the castle walls (one of my favorite parts of the city) we were greeted with a chocolate carpet decorated with chubby pink hearts that lead us through the main city street, and to what we hoped would be miles of flowing chocolate.

Obidos Chocolate Festival

Along the way we found a few spotted shops selling chocolate, there was of course chocolate cups with “Ginga/Cherry” (an Obidos tradition) and the odd chocolate stand along the way. We also came across the “Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo/World’s best chocolate cake” - it was nice but don’t know if I’d call it the world’s best. We then found one shop further up - they had really done it up for the event, decorating both the in an outside of their window with chocolate hearts. The pastries inside the window were all we needed to be seduced us inside - chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate hearts, lava chocolate pastries and others, made us decide this was the place to return to on our way out of the city.

Festival de Chocolate Obidos

Mouth watering, and anxious for more… off we went to see what awaited us. There were lots of small shops with chocolate truffles, bonbons and other treats we couldn’t help but sample. We also found a shop selling chocolate soap, bubble bath and even towels, now that would really be something to “soaking in chocolate”, have to remember that for next Valentines day. But we still hadn’t made it to the festival, realizing we were missing our tickets to chocolate heaven, we found the ticket area and its long snaking line…gulp, this could mean a long wait, and it looked longer than my patience to taste more chocolate….grrr. It was a good thing we had a quick fix on our way in, with the “Worlds Best Chocolate Cake”, so we took our place. Fortunately, the line moved quickly and before we knew it we had our tickets/wristbands in hand an a complementary Areo bar each. The organizers clearly saw that coming - waiting too long to satisfy a chocolate craving could cause serious chaos, so a chocolate fix at the end of the line was very good planning! Even though I’m not a milk chocolate fan, the mini fix was a welcome surprise. With our 5euros paid, chocolate in hand and wrist bracelet on….we were armed and dangerous with a passport to chocolate.

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Chocolate Truffles & Adventures

Update on the “Festival de Chocolate in Obidos“– it’s confirmed, we will be making the drive north, from Algarve to Obidos on Sunday. Can’t wait!

In the spirit of the Chocolate Festival, Moses and I couldn’t resist indulging in an appetizer, so to speak…so we made a small batch of handmade Chocolate & Port Truffles (you can find the recipe below) to kick start our chocolate adventures this weekend.

Yummy Chocolate Trufles

If you’re in Portugal between now, and the 24th of February, we highly recommend you make the Festival Chocolate in Obidos as part of your things to do.

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Lenços de Namorados - Lover’s Squares

Many moons ago, my mom told me a romantic story about the “Lenços dos Namorados” the Lover’s handkerchiefs. I had completely forgotten about the story, until I recently walked into a Lisbon shop “A Vida Portuguesa” and found a book on this very subject, Lenços de Namorados, escritas de AMOR - Lover’s Squares, Words of Love. This wonderful little book not only shows colourful photos of embroidered squares; it also gives the name of the embroiderer and history behind each square (if known).

Escritas De Amor

Lover’s Squares originated in the north of Portugal, in the Minho region, and by the early 1900’s had spread throughout the country. These very special squares started from crisp white linen or cotton, then were hand embroidered in various colours by young girls of marrying age (or sometimes commissioned by boys) as a declaration of their love for the object of their affection. How romantic is that?!

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Chocolate Festival - Obidos

Any guesses on the worlds #1, most popular flavour? Well its dark, sweet, rich and delicious…surpasses age; gender, culture, creed and people have even been known to lie about it… any clue? Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate…if you haven’t guessed.

And in just a few days there’s going to be an entire 2-week Chocolate Festival here in Portugal, in the tiny village of Obidos, just north of Lisbon. From what we hear, there will be chocolate sculptures, fashions, recipe contest and lots of chocolate eating. So, whether you like Dark, Milk, Semi Sweet, Bitter, White…you can fill that gap of indulgence and then some with chocolate treats from all over the country.

Obidos Chocolate Festival

We simply can’t miss this - Obidos is a magical little place embraced by huge stone walls protecting a medieval castle inside, and feels a lot like a mini medieval wonderland year round. So I can only imagine what it will look like swathed in people and chocolate for two entire weeks. So we’ll be making the trip from the Algarve up to Obidos to check it out for ourselves and we’ll update this post with pictures from our trip. For now here are some pictures from previous years.

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