{"product_id":"books-the-taste-of-portugal-by-edite-vieira","title":"The Taste of Portugal","description":"Very unfairly, the cuisine of Portugal remains largely unknown outside Portuguese-speaking communities. Perhaps it is presumed to be too much a poor relation of Spanish food to be worth exploring. If so, it is a pity, for, as Edite Vieira demonstrates in her classic The Taste of Portugal--now reissued by Grub Street--it retains a distinctive, vibrant identity. Among the very interesting characteristics of Portuguese food are the presence, uniquely in Europe, of fresh herb coriander as a flavoring, a most imaginative use of clams and what almost amounts to a mania for salt cod. The Taste of Portugal gives a wonderfully rounded picture of this robust and fascinating cuisine, with its bread-heavy soups, its salt cod and fish dishes, its high-flavored stews (in one well-known dish, combining pork and clams), its game and its extravagantly sweet desserts, rich with eggs. The first recipe is for what has become virtually a national dish: Caldo Verde, a simple but delicious potato soup enlivened with finely sliced greens. It was this soup which apparently prompted a British journalist to remark on the poverty of the Portuguese that forced them to make soup from grass. Edite Vieira provides a lively commentary that puts the food into its cultural and historical context--a number of the dishes are of great antiquity--and is an absolute delight to read. --Robin Davidson","brand":"World of Books ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53506524709137,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781902304397.jpg?v=1778113164","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/books-the-taste-of-portugal-by-edite-vieira","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}