Fado and Food

 We did not get to the Fado Museum, but did experience this musical form in person.

Essentially vocal laments, accompanied by guitar/s and a sort of mandolin, fado songs have been sung in Portuguese pubs and cafes for over 200 years. The singer, generally female but sometimes male, is melancholy about life in general, such as losing one's fisher husband to the sea, or about missed opportunities, or longing for home. The word "fado" means fate and there is an air of resignation in the face of hard times. 

Sigh.

Nowadays it is typically heard in a cafe accompanied by cod or pork stew, washed down with wine. Minimum charge applies.

We went to a recommended place, not flashy, very typical in the neighbourhood of Barrio Alto. Good singers, good musicians and hearty food.

The opposite of our fado meal was a blowout in one of Lisbon's two Michelin star restaurants, Belcanto, and it did not disappoint. We went for lunch, knowing the degustation menu would be many courses of rich food and we would need several hours to digest it before bedtime. Did we go for the wine pairing with each course? We did. 

anticipation

elderflower and egg white with tiny puffs to start

fois gras on the spoon, tuna belly in the glass and chicken skin shrimp sandwiches  

carrot mackerel salad

bread and butters were never like this at home!

beetroot three ways

egg yolk, Jerusalem artichoke cream, rise ashes, bone marrow, smoked eel

prawn in kaffir lime curry and cauliflower, with flowers! 

sea bass with sea lettuce

squab with bok choy, salsify and deep fried fois gras parcel

we had to put on a sleeve for dessert items to wipe our mouths,
as that was something the chef did as a boy

too late for a photo, but it was sweet egg, almond,
pine nut milk and frozen green olive oil balls

Portuguese french toast, candied peanuts, rice cream, melon sorbet,
apple and pear petits four to end

With a wonderful buffet breakfast at our hotel each morning, we needed only one other meal in the day, or  a couple of snacks.

One great meal was across the river, via ferry, at a low key place that gave us excellent seafood, perfectly matched with a small "jarro" of vino verde, literally green wine, which is young, slightly fizzy and delicate.  Martin finally got his sardines.

I think maybe one of our favourite meals was our first night, with two new friends from the ship, when we had decided that we didn't want too much food or drink, maybe just a few tapas. Jenny found a hole in the wall place, up anonymous stairs into a moorish tiled courtyard, then off to the side to another tiny courtyard, where we asked for the waiters favourite tapas and a jug of house red wine.

7 dishes and a litre of wine later we emerged, determined to finish our night with ginja, a sort of cherry fortified wine served cold with sour cherries in teh bottom of the shot glass (watch for pits!). You have to know what to look for - a tiny place with a few people standing under bad lighting. We went to one, blue and white tiled of course, who told us the oldest one in the city was just along the way, opposite the church and we should really try that one too. In fact, the three oldest ones were in close proximity.

Well, in the interests of fairness, you have to try all three don't you? Very full, a wee bit tipsy, and very happy we parted from our friends at about midnight. 

Bom Apetite!