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The Cooking Regions of Portugal- The Azores© Ofelia Nascimento
Mar 12, 2000
First stop: the Archipelago of nine islands known as the Azores.Located in the Atlantic Ocean, they consist of Corvo, Flores, Graciosa, Sao Jorge, Terceira, Faial, Pico, Sao Miguel and Santa Maria. They are islands made up of volcanic landscapes, cones and craters. Pico Volcano stands 2,351 meters high on the Island of Pico and has the highest altitude in the Azores.
They are islands with a moderate climate, garden like in appearance with flowers scattered through fields, villages and houses. They are islands of dreamy lagoons and peacefull horizons. You can slow down your pace of life and appreciate your surroundings.
The Azores are islands where food is as varied as the islands themselves. You can go to Sao Jorge to enjoy cheese, Sao Miguel to taste sweet pineapples and have a drink of aperitif wine on the island of Pico. Good quality beef can be found in Terceira and all the islands are known for their wide choice of fish. Limpet, cavaco (lobster type fish), spider crab, crabs, octopus and squid are abundant and delicious.
The Islands are finds for such fruits as passion fruit, bananas, yams, apples and vegetables like potatoes.
Sweets are specialties on all the islands where you can find every kind of dessert from rice pudding to cakes with religious names. Try this recipe for Chicken made "ao vinho" 2 1/2 to 3 pound chicken
1/4 pound sliced mushrooms
shallots, as needed
2 peeled, diced tomatoes
1/2 pint of dry white wine
1/4 ound butter
garlic
3 sprigs chopped parsley Cut the chicken into serving pieces and season with salt and pepper. Saute in butter for about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms, shallots and cover and cook until mushrooms are golden. Add the tomatoes and garlic and cover until the chiken is tender and done. Take the chicken from the pan, add the wine to sauce and let it simmer.
Season to taste and pour it over the chicken. Sprinkle with fresh parsley. I hope you enjoyed this short stop to the Islands of the Azores and that you try the recipe. My next article will take us to yet another culinary region that makes up the beautiful country of Portugal. Good eating and good health!
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