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Recipe for a Happy Christmas

© Anne Duguid

Advent started on Sunday and according to Portuguese writer and journalist, Carlos Leite Ribeiro, this means that the Christ child is already at the door "o menino Jesus esta a porta". The warmth and tenderness of the Christmas feeling is encapsulated in that small refrain.

His article describes the run up to and preparations for a Portuguese Christmas - perhaps not so different to those in other countries - but what adds the spice and flavour to the article is the description of the food to be prepared.

Just over three weeks to go - and we still have time to do our Christmas making and baking if we start now. Why not consider adding a Portuguese classic dish to one of your festive menus?

What better way to start than with the Madeira honey cake which looks so tempting on the Henriques and Henriques page.

After sifting through pages of recipes on the bolo de mel da Madeira, I have chosen the following suggestions - all more or less the same but in larger or smaller quantities, with or without raisins, with or without English translation!

This recipe is clear and simple, and probably best left for those of us who keep our own hens - nine eggs can seem a bit awesome else. But of course, everyone in the Portuguese countryside used to keep their own hens - and either saved the eggs or prayed the the hens would miraculously start laying again in time for Christmas.

This may be why in the Texto Monchique , 11 year old Catia (or is she 12?) who describes the origin of the cake , says it originated as a May day speciality in the Algarve before being taken to Madeira and transformed into the version so famous today. This is a lovely text which makes a really delightful bilingual read, the Portuguese and the English being laid out side by side.

The Roteiro Gastronomico, which we could perhaps translate as the Gastronomic Guidebook,is an amazing site with recipes for every occasion including those special moments and dinner for two. I could not resist the Tarot and Gastronomia link which not only offers astrological insights for each star sign but also suggests the most appropriate recipe for the week ahead!

Officially the Madeira bolo de mel would be made with a wide variety of ingredients but a reasonably effective and tasty cake can be made for less cost and effort.