Portuguese Seafood Rice: Arroz de Marisco

"Arroz de Marisco" is one of the iconic dishes of Portuguese cuisine. Although recipes vary, especially about the types of seafood used, shrimp is included in almost all recipes, with 2 or 3 other types of seafood often chosen by its availability from among: scallops, mussels, crab, lobster, squid and various choices for white fish, like cod ('bacalhau,' in Portuguese; that is, salted and dried cod),* halibut, haddock.   

If you shell and clean the shrimp yourself, you can use the shells to help make stock for the dish by adding the shells in with the shrimp when you initially cook the shrimp. Just use the large parts of the shells so that it is easy to pick the shells out of the liquid. You don't have to clean and shell the shrimp, you can buy them already cleaned. Trust me, the earth will not stop turning based upon whether you cleaned the shrimp yourself. You will use about 1 1/2 cups of this liquid for the recipe (see below). You can buy the clam juice used in the recipe in supermarkets or perhaps in some fish and seafood shops. It comes in bottles. This rice isn't meant to be completely dry, where it has absorbed all of the liquid; so, don't cook it until that happens. When the rice is tender and the fish and scallops are cooked, that's it, IT'S DONE! Some good crusty bread is excellent for sopping up the remaining broth.

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

1 pound cleaned and shelled medium shrimp

1/2 pound scallops (bay or sea scallops out of their shells)**

1 pound firm white fish (for the photos below, I used halibut), cut into bite-sized pieces

1 1/2 cups arborio rice 

1 cup chopped onion

5 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil + (likely) 1 more tablespoon olive oil

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup clam juice

1 1/2 cups cooking liquid water from shrimp

1 good pinch of saffron threads, or 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground white pepper (or ground black pepper)

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon salt 

 

Put the shrimp (and shells, if using) into a pan over medium heat and cover them with water. Bring the shrimp to a boil and reduce heat to low. Let cook until the shrimp are almost done. Save 1 1/2 cups of the liquid for the recipe (discard any shells used), and cut the shrimp in half (across, not lengthwise). Set the shrimp and the reserved liquid aside.

 

I use a large skillet, but you can use a heavy-bottomed pan. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet/pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the chopped onion and stir it around a little and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes before stirring in the minced garlic and the chopped red bell pepper, and stir the ingredients around until the bell pepper softens somewhat. (If at some point, you feel another tablespoon of oil is needed, add it.) Now add the arborio rice and let it cook for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring the ingredients around occasionally to prevent sticking and burning. Add the white wine and stir, then crush the saffron threads in the palm of your hand and add them to the pan (or stir in the turmeric, if using), along with the white pepper, stir again until the liquid is almost absorbed by the rice, then add the clam juice and do the same, stirring until it is almost absorbed. Now mix the salt into the liquid from the shrimp, and add this liquid to the pan, stirring again. Add the bay scallops and stir and mix them into the rice (the rice should still be in the process of absorbing much of the shrimp broth). Then add the pieces of white fish and the chopped cilantro and mix them into the rice. The scallops and the fish should cook pretty quickly. Add the shrimp halves and mix them into the rice; cook only until the shrimp is heated through and the rice is tender. Any excess liquid if fine, the dish is usually served that way, with bread served to help sop up the broth.   

 

* Portugal is known for its dried, salted cod called 'bacalhau.' The country is home to hundreds of recipes for bacalhau. Portugal imports much of its dried, salted cod from Norway, taking virtually all of the Scandinavian country's cod available for export. 

 

** If you use sea scallops, which are larger than bay scallops, cut them into 3 or 4 pieces.

 

'Arroz de Marisco' with some sliced tomatoes and crusty bread ... 

WORD HISTORY:

Reply (Replicate)-"Reply" is related to quite a number of words, including: "plait/pleat," "complex," "complexion," all Latin-derived words borrowed from French/Anglo-French, and it's related to "flax," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Reply" goes back to Indo European "plek," with the notion of "to plait, to fold together, to weave or braid." This gave Latin the verb "plicare," meaning "to fold," and "replicare," with the "re" being a Latin prefix generally meaning "again, back. "Replicare" meant "to fold back," but also, "to repeat," and later also, "to respond." "Replicare" gave Old French "replier," meaning "to fold (up), to refold;" that is, "to fold again;" thus, "repeat," and "respond." English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1300s as "replien, which then became "replyen," before the modern form. The English meanings were: "to make an answer to something (including in the legal sense of  'answer an accusation or charge'), oppose, retaliate." The noun developed from the verb in the mid 1500s with the meaning, "a written or a voiced response to something."

Madeiran Tomato Soup with Onion: Sopa de Tomate e Cebola

Madeira is a group of four islands in the Atlantic Ocean about 325 miles west of Morocco and about 675 miles from mainland Portugal. The four islands are: "Madeira" and "Porto Santo," both of which are inhabited, and also "Desertas" and "Selvagens," which are uninhabited. Madeira is a constituent part of the Portuguese Republic, commonly simply referred to as "Portugal."

 

While such soup is available on the mainland of Portugal, it is a popular staple in Madeira, and there are varying recipes. I've seen this dish made as more of a "stew," in that it was cooked over low heat for an hour or more, with little or no liquid added, except for that of the tomatoes, and this produced a very thick dish; but on the other hand, I've seen it made as a true soup, with plenty of liquid. You can certainly use all fresh tomatoes, or all canned tomatoes, but I decided to be steadfast (haha) and to use some of both, and if you make this, you'll have no doubt that it is made with tomatoes, as that is the overwhelming taste that dominates. Since tomatoes are very acidic, I list the option of using a little sugar to offset the acidity, but I actually only found one recipe that used some sugar, and I probably looked at a dozen recipes. Just for the record, I use 1/4 teaspoon sugar sprinkled over the soup and then stirred into the other ingredients near the end of cooking.    

 

 

Ingredients (6 to 8 servings):

 

1 to 1 1/4 pounds of ripe tomatoes, blanched and skins removed

1 can of whole peeled tomatoes and juice (28 ounces)

1 baseball size onion, chopped

3 medium cloves garlic, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 heaping tablespoon cilantro (coriander) leaves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth (depending upon desired thickness)

(optional) 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sugar

eggs

1 slice rustic bread for each egg (on Madeira, many use the flatbread made there*)

Blanch the fresh tomatoes in boiling water briefly and remove the skins, then roughly chop the tomatoes. (Bring enough water to cover the tomatoes to a boil. Before adding the tomatoes, use a sharp knife to cut through the skin of each tomato and make an 'X,' this will make the tomatoes easy to peel.) Add the olive oil and the chopped onion to a heavy-bottom pan over low heat. Let the onion saute for a few minutes until it starts to soften, then add the fresh tomatoes and canned tomatoes with juice. Let the mixture come to a simmer and then add the chicken broth and adjust the heat to low and add the white pepper, garlic and bay leaf, cover and continue to let the soup simmer. When the tomato and onion are well softened, add the chopped cilantro and simmer for another one minute. Remove the bay leaves, then use an immersion blender (stick blender) to "smooth out" the soup, but you can leave about a third of the ingredients in pieces to give the soup some texture. I've seen recipes that poach the eggs in a separate pan, but I've seen recipes that poach the eggs in with the soup; I poach them separately. When serving, add some soup to a bowl, add one of the poached eggs, and serve with a slice of bread. I've also seen some people serve the dish by putting a slice of bread in the bowl first, then adding the poached egg followed by adding the soup. 

 

* For Madeiran sweet potato flatbread, here is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2023/04/madeiran-sweet-potato-flatbread-bolo-do.html 

     

 

WORD HISTORY:

Butcher-This word, used as a noun and a verb, is related to "buck" (a male goat or deer), a word from the Germanic roots of English. The noun "butcher" has an uncertain origin, as both Old Germanic and Old Celtic had similar words, and there is some question as to whether Germanic got its form from Celtic, or if Celtic got its form from Germanic, and Celtic and Germanic did have large amounts of contact back in ancient European history. On the other hand, Old Germanic and Old Celtic are Indo European languages, and for both to have similar forms of a word is hardly astounding.^ Anyway, Indo European had "bhug," meaning "male goat or antelope type animal." This gave Old Germanic "bukkaz" with the same meaning, which then gave Frankish^^ "bukk," with the same general meaning. This was absorbed into Old French as "buc," then as "bouc" meaning "male goat," and this gave Old French the noun "bouchier," meaning "one who slaughters goats," and the word was rendered as "boucher" among the descendants of the Normans in England. English borrowed the word circa 1300 as "boucher" with the meaning "one who slaughters animals and prepares them for sale at market." The mid 1400s saw the borrowed use of "bocherie" (from French "boucherie") as both the name of "a place that slaughtered animals and then prepared and sold them," and as the name for the profession that did such, and it later became "butchery," although the compound "slaughterhouse" rose to become the more common term for the business place itself (both "slaughter" and "house" from the Germanic roots of English). "Butchery (and "slaughter") also later added the meaning "horrendous, barbaric killing(s)." The verb form of "butcher" is from the mid 1500s and meaning "to kill and prepare animals for food," and about a hundred years later the figurative meaning developed, "to mangle or mess up something (usually by incompetence)," as in, "The singer butchered the lyrics to the song." Buck-The Old Germanic form gave Old English "bucca" (male goat) and "buc(c)" (male deer), and these then combined to become "buck," "a male animal of certain species." Circa 1300, the word was also used for "man," then as "young buck," for "a young, energetic and virile man," and later (early 1700s?), "a well dressed man," and also used derogatorily in American English for "young male Indians" and "young black men." Relatives of "buck" in other Germanic languages: German has "Bock," Low German "Buck," Dutch "bok," West Frisian "bok," Danish "buk," Icelandic "bokkur," Norwegian "bukk (?), Swedish "bock," all generally meaning "male animal of certain species like sheep, goats and deer."  

 

^ Keep in mind, it doesn't really matter to the rest of the history of the word if Germanic had the word from its Indo European parent, or if it had borrowed it from Celtic, because Germanic passed it on to its Germanic offspring, including English.

 

^^ Frankish was the language of the Germanic tribe the Franks. The Franks conquered much of what is modern France (then called Gaul), but their language did not overtake the Latin already firmly establish there, but rather, over centuries it was absorbed into what came to be called "French," a word from Frankish (France is another such word).   

Madeiran Sweet Potato Flatbread: Bolo do Caco

Madeira is a group of four islands in the Atlantic Ocean about 325 miles west of Morocco and about 675 miles from mainland Portugal. The four islands are: "Madeira" and "Porto Santo," both of which are inhabited, and also "Desertas" and "Selvagens," which are uninhabited. Madeira is a constituent part of the Portuguese Republic, commonly simply referred to as "Portugal." Madeira is most famous for its wine with the well thought out and original name "Madeira," a favorite of mine; the wine, I mean, but the name's nice too.

 

This flatbread is not typically made very thin; and in fact, it is able to be cut open into two distinct pieces of bread. They, therefore, can be used, and are also used, to make sandwiches.  

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 packet yeast

1 pinch sugar

3/4 to 1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups lukewarm (NOT HOT) water (hot water will kill the yeast)

oil for cooking (small amount for each flatbread)

Wash the sweet potato, then prick the skin with a fork or knife a few times. Microwave (or bake in an oven) until tender; then let cool a bit, cut the potato open and scoop out the flesh and mash it well. It is best to rub your hands with some vegetable oil or olive oil before handling the dough, then mix the mashed sweet potato and all other ingredients together to form a dough; it will be sticky, so that's not abnormal. Remember too, the dough's color will be influenced by the color of the sweet potato you use. Cover the bowl and let the dough sit for 45 minutes to an hour to rise. Then divide the dough into balls of a size that when you flatten them, they will fit into the skillet you will use. Pat the dough balls into rounds about 1 inch thick, like a thick pizza crust ("Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake baker's man, bake me a cake as fast as you can, pat it, pat it and mark it with a 'B' and put it in the oven for baby and me." Wow, I haven't heard that for a while; at least 3 or 4 years.). Put the patted out rounds onto a plate and cover with a dish towel or paper towel; let them sit in a warm place for about 30 to 40 minutes. Put a small amount of oil (I use olive oil) into the skillet (I've used both a cast iron skillet and a nonstick skillet to make these), over medium heat. Regarding the oil, the thing is, you don't want the bread to be greasy when done, but you also don't want it to stick to the skillet. Once it is in the skillet for a brief period of time, it will begin to form a crust; and thus, it will be far less likely to stick. The same thing will happen when you flip the flatbread over. I flip the bread over 2 or 3 times, and it's okay if the two sides have dark spots form on them; that is typically how they are served. I've seen some people describe the Bolo do Caco as being similar to the texture of English muffins, and that's a pretty good comparison; crusty chewy outside, soft airy inside.      

Serve with garlic butter (1 softened stick of butter, 1/2 teaspoon freshly minced garlic, 1 heaping teaspoon finely chopped chives) 

 

 

Spread with garlic butter ...

WORD HISTORY:

Prey (Predation/Predator)-"Prey" is a word that was originally a contracted base word with a prefix. The main body of the original word is related to "apprehend" and "comprehend," both Latin-derived words borrowed by English from Latin, and to "prison," a Latin-based word borrowed by English from French. The first part of "prey" goes back to Indo European "per," which meant "before, in front, forward," and this gave Latin "prae," meaning "before," which was used as a prefix to form words. The second and main part of "prey" goes back to Indo European "ghed" meaning "to seize, to take, to hold," and together this and the prefix gave Latin the noun "praeda," meaning "that which is taken in war;" thus, "plunder, booty, spoils," and also, "animals that are hunted, game that is hunted," with this meaning also coming to be used for "animals hunted by other animals," and the Latin form passed into Old French as "preie." This was borrowed by English in the mid 1200s, with the French spelling, and the use also was extended to "a weak or helpless person." The "plunder, spoils" meaning didn't really remain in common usage in English to the present, and is archaic. The verb developed circa 1300 from the noun, but also with influence from French "preer" (to pillage, to ravage), which traces back to the Latin verb "praedari," meaning, "to seize or take by force, to rob, to pillage." Predation, not a terribly common word nowadays, but it is still around, and likewise, it goes back to Latin "praedari" (to seize or take by force, to rob, to pillage), and the derived Latin noun form "praedatio," meaning "the act of pillaging, plundering" with its accusative form, "praedationem," providing the basis of the English noun "predation" (initially as "predacioun?") also meaning "the act of pillaging, plundering," later taking the meanings from the noun "prey," as the "pillaging" meaning began to fade. Predator; that is, an animal or species involved in "predation, the act of certain animals to hunt and kill other animals," with that meaning then being used for "humans who take advantage of the weaknesses of other humans or animals," and later also applied to humans who "exploit age or weakness to gain sex from someone" (sex/sexual predator). This word is from Latin "praedator," which meant "plunderer, pillager," and it was borrowed from Latin in the second half of the 1500s.   

Portuguese Black-Eyed Peas & Tuna Salad: Salada de Feijão Frade com Atum

Black-eyed peas are really a type of bean originally from Africa and brought to the New World by African slaves. They are eaten in several African countries like Senegal, Nigeria and others, as well as on many of the Caribbean islands, and they are popular in the American South and in parts of Brazil, especially in the Bahia region of that large South American country. The Portuguese likely took black-eyed peas back to Portugal from Africa and also from Brazil, which was a colony of Portugal for over 300 years until the 1820s. 

To keep things simple, I use canned black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained, but you can certainly use dried black-eyed peas, soak them and then cook them (2/3 cup dried black-eyed peas makes about 2 cups cooked). Further, I use canned tuna in olive oil, although sometimes I buy tuna in olive oil in a jar.   

Serve as a lunch dish or as a light evening meal with some crusty bread, or serve as a side dish or appetizer for a bigger meal.

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 serving, depending upon main dish or appetizer): 

 

2 cans black-eyed peas (15 to 16 ounces each), rinsed

1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chopped parsley (or cilantro)

1 or 2 cans tuna in olive oil, flaked*

3 teaspoons white wine vinegar 

(optional) sugar to taste

3 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 teaspoon ground white (or black) pepper

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon salt  

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped or cut into wedges

In a bowl, add the black-eyed peas, onion, garlic, parsley and flaked tuna; in a cup or a small bowl, add and mix the vinegar and oil (and sugar, if using), then pour it over the salad ingredients, toss to mix; season with white or black pepper and salt; top with chopped hard boiled eggs or hard boiled egg wedges.

 

* I use one 12 ounce can (it has 9 ounces of drained tuna), but you can use smaller cans, like 6 ounces with "about" 5 ounces drained; so, you should buy two for this recipe.  

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Cologne-This word is both the name of a city and a name for a product of alcohol, water and fragrant oils. "Cologne" is closely related to "colony," a word from Latin, and it's related to "culture," another word from Latin. "Cologne" goes back to Indo European "kwel," which had the notion, "move around, to turn or turn around;" thus also, "upend, revolve." This gave Latin "colere," meaning, "to till the land" ("move and turn the land over for planting"); thus by extension, "to cultivate, to farm;" thus also by extension, "to settle, to dwell." This produced the Latin noun "colonus," meaning, "settler, farmer;" thus also, "tenant farmer." This then gave Latin the noun "colonia" meaning, "settlement, large amount of cultivated land;" thus, "an estate," then also used for "land conquered, settled and occupied by Roman soldiers beyond Rome." What became the city of "Cologne" was founded by the Germanic tribe the Ubii" a few decades before the Christian Era and it was known to the Romans as "Oppidum Ubiorum." Agrippina, the daughter of a famous Roman general, Germanicus, was born there circa 15 AD/CE, and she later was the wife of the Emperor Claudius, whom she persuaded to raise the city's status to that of a "colony;" with the name "Colonia Agrippina" being used, although often rendered as simply "Colonia," which in German became "Köln." The name for the scented product came in the 1740s from Italian born^ Giovanni Maria Farina who moved to the city of Cologne in the early 1700s (he then apparently took the German form of "Giovanni;" that being, "Johann"), and he founded a company making "cologne," known to some by its French name, "Eau de Cologne" ("Water of Cologne") 

^ Farina was born right by the border with the Italian part of Switzerland (about 8% to 8 1/2% of Swiss are Italian speaking).

African Hot Pepper Sauce: Pili Pili (Piri Piri)

The territories that came to form Mozambique were visited by Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498, with increasing Portuguese influence in the area as the decades and centuries passed, and with chili peppers being one of the influences contributed by the Portuguese to parts of African cuisine, including in Mozambique, which became independent of Portugal in the mid 1970s.* The Portuguese and the Spanish had gotten chili peppers in the New World, but it was the Portuguese and their developing vast system of international trade and colonial possessions that is credited with spreading the use of chili peppers to quite a number of places around the world. 

  

"Pili pili" hot pepper sauce is used in a number of African countries and recipes vary from just a few ingredients to additions like carrot, tomato, sweet red pepper and onion. The name is pronounced as if, "peely peely," and it comes from the Swahili term for "pepper," and it is also known as "piri-piri" and "peri-peri." The Portuguese version, often written as "piripiri" in Portugal, is a common part of Portuguese cuisine, both as a part of recipes and more commonly as a condiment to season and to add "heat" to already prepared foods. The Portuguese also use chili peppers to make a type of "hot chili paste." 

 

You can use dried chilies if you don't have fresh chilies. The recipe below yields multiple servings; that is, servings in the sense of relatively small amounts being used for burgers or other sandwiches, or to add to recipes for some heat and flavor. Store the sauce in a glass container (the sauce can react with containers made from other materials) with a lid and place it in the refrigerator, where it should keep 2 to 3 weeks. 

Ingredients:

 

4 very hot chilies (like habaneros, scotch bonnets or African or Thai bird's eye chilies)

4 less hot red chilies (like Fresno chilies or cayenne peppers)

2 large cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 or 4 tablespoons water

 

Wear kitchen gloves when working with chili peppers. Use a blender or food processor. Remove the stems from the chilies, slit the chilies open and remove the seeds, although I generally leave a few seeds remain from the medium hot chilies. Process all of the ingredients, except the water, until smooth. Heat in a non reactive sauce pan or skillet over low heat for just a couple of minutes. The sauce will likely be very thick, so add a tablespoon of water and mix it in well, then see if you need to add another tablespoon of water or more to reach a good consistency. Transfer to a container and store unused portion in the refrigerator. The sauce will keep for 2 to 3 weeks in the refrigerator. Many African pili pili sauces are not particularly watery or runny; that is, they aren't much like Tabasco sauce or most other American type hot sauces, but rather a little thicker. 

* The capital of Mozambique is "Maputo," but it formerly was called "Lourenço Marques," named after a Portuguese explorer. The official language of Mozambique is Portuguese, but several African languages, including Swahili, are spoken in various parts of the country.

WORD HISTORY:

Constant-This is a prefixed word, with the "stant'' part being related to quite a number of words (or parts of words) like "stand," a word from the Germanic roots of English, also the "-stan" part of countries or regions like "Pakistan," with this suffix going back through Persian to Indo Iranian, to the verb "stay" (halt, remain), a word of Latin derivation borrowed by English via French. The "con-" prefix is a common Latin prefix (also as "com-") with the general meaning "with, together." The main part of the word goes back to Indo European "sta," which meant "to stand." This gave Latin "stare" (not to be confused with the English word of the same spelling), which meant "to stand, to remain in place." The two parts gave Latin "constare," meaning, "to stand with, to stand together." The participle form, "constans," and its accusative case form, gave Latin the adjective "constantem," meaning, "to stand together, to stand firm, to remain in place, unchanging." Latin-based Old French took the word as "constant," and English borrowed the word latter part of the 1300s from French, but with likely reinforcement from Latin.  

Sangria, A Refreshing Drink Of Spain & Portugal

Sangria is a Spanish and Portuguese drink of wine (originally red wine) with fruit or fruit peel, as well as sugar, added. There are variations of ingredients, including the addition of brandy or rum, or sometimes also cachaça in Portugal.* Since the wine will be flavored with other ingredients, I suggest you choose a wine of  modest price, and if you want authenticity, use a Spanish "rioja," but a cabernet sauvignon or a merlot, both easily available, would be just fine. You certainly can vary the amount of sugar to your own taste  

Ingredients:

1 bottle red wine
1 lemon, sliced
1/2 orange, seeded, chopped with rind
1/2 peach, peeled, pitted and chopped
6 to 8 seedless red grapes, halved 
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
4 tablespoons sugar
ice
(optional) Triple Sec or Cointreau (these are orange flavored liqueurs)*

In a pitcher, add all ingredients, except the wine and ice. Mix everything together well, and you needn't be gentle in your stirring of the fruit, as extracting a bit of juice and softening the fruit so that it emits more juice into the wine will only make for a better sangria. Cover the pitcher and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Add the wine and the ice and stir well. For those who like it with more alcohol, when serving, you can add a small amount of Triple Sec or Cointreau to each glass, then pour in the Sangria and stir. If everyone prefers more alcohol, you can just stir a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Triple Sec or Cointreau right into the sangria. 

* Cachaça is a rum-like alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane in Brazil. Brazil was once a colony of Portugal. Cachaça is the main ingredient in Brazil's well known "caipirinha cocktail." 

** Cointreau is from France and is 40% alcohol (80 proof) and Triple Sec was originally produced in France, but it is now produced by distilleries outside of France, including in the United States. The alcohol content varies, but it is usually between 30% and 40%, depending upon brand. 

WORD HISTORY:
Peach-The ultimate origin of this word is uncertain, and no one theory has exactly convinced me. It goes back to transliterated Ancient Greek "mêlon persikón," which meant, "Persian apple." The peach tree was brought to Persia from China, thus giving the Greeks the association of the tree and fruit with Persia. This was borrowed by Latin as "malum persicum," which later became just, "persica," which then became "pessica," meaning "peach," or "peach tree." This then became "pesca" in Latin, and passed into French, a Latin-based language, as "pesche." English borrowed the word as "peche," in the early 1400s, although there may have been some use of the word even about a century earlier.

Indian Shrimp Vindaloo

The basic recipe for "Vindaloo" came to the Indians from the Portuguese, who colonized a part of western India over 400 years ago. The Portuguese used pork that was marinated in wine and garlic, but generally only Indian Christians eat pork, so over time, shrimp, fish and chicken became popular as substitutes for the pork, and many spices were added, which is very common in Indian cuisine. This is a spicy hot curry, but naturally you can lower the heat by using fewer chili flakes, although chili flakes can vary in heat level. "Vindaloo" is the Indian rendering, from the Konkani language of southwestern India,* of Portguese "vinha d'alhos" (wine and garlic).

Ingredients:

1 pound large (31/35) shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons olive oil (NOT extra virgin olive oil)
2 to 3 tablespoons red chili flakes
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 tablespoon brown sugar

In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the chopped onion. Saute about a minute, then add the garlic and ginger. Saute until the onion begins to soften. Add the chili flakes, the red wine vinegar, the ground cumin, the cinnamon, the ground cloves, the nutmeg, the ground coriander, the turmeric, the paprika, the salt and the brown sugar. Stir well and cook the mixture for about one minute. Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook until opaque, turning the shrimp once during cooking to coat them with the spice mixture (overcooking shrimp can make them tough). Serve with white rice.

* In and around the state of Goa, where the Indian version of this dish originated.

WORD HISTORY:
Bale-This word, related to "ball" (round object), goes back to Indo European "bhel," which had the notion of "swell, bloat out, to bulge." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "balluz," which meant, "swollen or bloated object;" thus later actually, "round object." This was borrowed into Latin from Lombardic, an old Germanic dialect, as "balla" ("ball, round object"), which was taken into Latin-based Old French as "balle," with the same meaning, but also, "material(s) rolled into a rounded object;" thus, "package, bundle." This was borrowed by Flemish as "baal," and English borrowed the word in the early 1300s, with likely reinforcement from both French and Dutch.

Portuguese Chicken Piri Piri

In Portuguese this is called, "Frango Piri Piri." The small, hot, red chili peppers used by the Portuguese, "piri piri" (the term is from Swahili), are a common addition to a number of Portuguese recipes. They are a cousin to tabasco peppers and they vary from about 40,000 to more than 100,000 units on the Scoville Heat Scale for chilies. They come in jars in a vinegar brine and they can be a bit hard to find in the United States, although perhaps not in areas where many in the population have Portuguese heritage, like in parts of New England, California and Florida, where imported Portuguese products are likely more common. You will definitely find them online. Now, if you don't have these exact peppers, do not despair, as you can use just about any very hot chili pepper.

When I made this dish, I was just astounded by how good it was. I had piri piri peppers in a jar, and the brine was not overwhelmingly vinegary. You don't have to make it so hot that all you experience is heat from the chilies, but there's no question, if you have any nasal congestion, you won't have it after eating some of this chicken, but the flavor of the overall sauce was so good, I found it hard to stop eating. The great flavor also limits the amount of salt you'll need. 

Question: When Portuguese men grow old, are they called, "Portugeezers?"

Ingredients:

1 chicken, butterflied (often small chickens, like Cornish hens, are used by the Portuguese)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Spanish paprika
8 to 10 piri piri in brine, along with a tablespoon or so of the brine.
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

This chicken is commonly grilled in Portugal, but you can roast it in a 400 degree (F) oven. Blend all ingredients, except chicken, to a consistency you like. I like chunky sauces, but most recipes I've seen for this make the sauce fairly smooth. Lay the butterflied chicken in a shallow dish and pour the sauce over it. Turn the chicken and thoroughly coat it. Cover the dish and refrigerate several hours, up to 12 hours. Reserve the excess marinade sauce to baste the chicken if you're grilling it. If you keep any of the sauce for serving, you must heat it, as it had been in touch with raw poultry. I roasted the chicken in the same pan I used to marinade it, along with the excess marinade, and I spooned some of the sauce over the chicken 3 times during the cooking process. I let the chicken roast for about 65 minutes, to let the skin begin to show some charring. 

WORD HISTORY:
Geezer-This word is distantly related to English "wise" and "wit," but especially to the use of  "wise" as a suffix (examples: "likewise, clockwise"). It goes back to Indo European "weid," which had the notion "to see;" thus, "to know how to go, proceed." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "wisaz," with the same meaning, and an altered form, "wiso," for a noun, with the meaning, "way, manner, custom, condition." ^ This gave Old Frankish, a Germanic dialect/language, "wisa," with the same meaning. This was borrowed/absorbed into Old French as "guise," with the same meaning, but including, "manner of dress," then later also, "manner of cover or cloak." This was borrowed into English in the latter part of the 1200s. From this was formed "guiser," meaning, "person in disguise, or wearing a mask." In London, some came to pronounce it as "geezer," and it simply meant, "a man" (during the 1500s?). In North America it took on the meaning "an old man" during the second half of the 1800s. It is an example of a Germanic word coming into English (a Germanic language) in an altered form from a non Germanic language.

^ The Germanic form gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "wise" (back then pronounced as today's word, but the ending "e" was pronounced "eh").

Portuguese-Style Beef Pot Roast/Stew (Alcatra)

This very easily prepared Portuguese recipe, called "Alcatra" ("rump steak") in Portuguese, is from the Azores (Portuguese: Açores, see Word History below), more particularly from the island of Terceira, one of the nine islands in the Atlantic that form the Azores, which lie more than 800 miles from mainland Portugal. The Azores compose a part of the Portuguese Republic. I read over a number of recipes for this dish and some called for white wine, some for red wine and some had either. I used white wine, because I already had a bottle! The next time, I will use red wine. All but one recipe used either chuck roast or rump roast, which was then cut into chunks, but the one used already cut stewing meat, and that's what I chose to use also. From what I read, rice is often served with this dish, although a couple of recipes served it with potatoes cooked with the meat, including one that kept the skins on. The dish is traditionally cooked in a clay pot in Portugal. As I've noted many times before, I'm a mashed potatoes guy, so that's what I had with this beef dish.  

Ingredients:

4 pounds beef stewing meat chunks
5 strips thick sliced bacon, cut into smaller pieces (you can trim some of the fat off, if you'd like)
2 large onions, sliced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil (not extra virgin)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground cloves
10 black peppercorns
2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups white (or red) wine
2 tablespoons butter
water, as needed (or enough to cover, see below)

Heat oven to 375 F. Use the olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan or ovenproof dish you will be using. Add the pieces of beef, bacon, onion and garlic. Mix things around, so that the bacon, onion and garlic mix in with the beef. Add the bay leaves, the ground cloves, the peppercorns and the salt, then pour in the wine, and add water to make sure the beef is covered. Float the butter on top. Cover and bake for one hour fifteen minutes, then reduce heat to 325 F, bake until meat is tender, likely "at least" another 90 minutes, but well worth the wait, even if it takes two more hours. You can take the lid off for the last half hour or so of cooking, if you'd like, even if the meat is no longer covered in liquid. 

WORD HISTORY:
Azores-This word for the Portuguese islands in the Atlantic, the first part of which is distantly related to "edge," with the second part distantly related to "feather,'' with a closer relationship to "pen" (writing implement), goes back to Indo European "ak," which had the notion of "sharp, pointed." This gave Latin "acies," meaning, "point, edge," which provided a form for the first part of Latin "accipiter," which meant "hawk." The second part of "accipiter" goes back to Indo European "pethr/pethn," which meant "feather." This gave Italic "petn," meaning "feather, wing feather," and this provided Latin with the "piter" part of "accipiter." This gave Portuguese "açor," meaning, "hawk, goshawk" (a more specific type of bird of prey, literally, "goosehawk"). The plural in Portuguese, "açores," came to be applied to the islands in the 1500s, "supposedly" because the birds were often seen there. This was borrowed by English with the spelling "Azores."   

Portuguese-Style Spicy Shrimp (Camarões á Portuguesa)

This is my own variation on a recipe from, "Portuguese Homestyle Cooking," by Ana Patuleia Ortins, Interlink Books, 2008 edition. The Portuguese title of the recipe, "Camarões á Portuguesa," is taken from the book. This is not a dish that will make your mouth melt with heat, but if you like more heat, add a whole chili or two.

Ingredients (about 6 to 8 servings):

1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2/3 cup chopped tomato, with juice
1 bay leaf
1/2 jalapeño or serrano pepper, finely chopped or 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
2 pounds shrimp *
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter

In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the onion. Cook for a couple of minutes until the onion is softening, then add the garlic, tomato and chili pepper (fresh or dried), cook 2 minutes, then reduce heat to low, add the wine and bay leaf, cover and cook for another 5 minutes, before adding the shrimp, cilantro and salt. Simmer just until the shrimp are tender, do not overcook, unless you want shrimp that are tough. Remove the shrimp from the pan and put them into a serving dish or into individual serving dishes. Melt the butter in the hot broth. The author says her father never pureed the broth, and that she does so only occasionally, but the broth is used as a dip for the shrimp. I did not puree the broth, and the oil and butter in it almost silky.    

* The actual recipe calls for this to be "peel and eat shrimp," and thus, the shrimp are in their shells. I used cleaned (deveined), tail on shrimp of medium size (41/50 per pound).

 WORD HISTORY:
Portugal-This name for the country on the Iberian Peninsula, and neighbor of Spain, which borders it to the north and east, is a compound of Latin "portus" and "Cale." The first part is related to "port" (a word English borrowed from Latin), and distantly related to "ford" (an original English word from the Germanic roots of English). It goes back to the Indo European root "per," which had the notion of "cross over, to pass over or through." This then produced the extended "perts," meaning "crossing." This gave Latin "portus," which meant, "harbor (also spelled, "harbour," British English and many former British colonies), "seemingly" from the idea of, "a place, or the place, a ship docks after crossing a body of water;" thus also from an extended notion, "entrance to a city" (later, regardless of being on or even near water). The Romans had named a prominent harbor city, in what is now Portugal, "Portus Cale," which later came to be applied to the entire area of what is now Portugal, and the city came to be called, "Oporto." The second part of "Portugal" comes from "Cale," a word somewhat disputed in its history, but which I believe comes from the name of one of the Celtic tribes of that region, the Gallaeci, whose related branch to the north gave their name to a large area of western Europe, and Roman province, "Gaul." "Portus Cale" morphed into "Portungale/Portyngale," before the modern version. 

Portuguese Bread Soup (Sopa Alentejana)

This soup comes from the region of Alentejo in Portugal. It is easy and quick to make. One thing, it is very garlicky, so if you're going to be doing any kissing, have the other person eat the soup too. That should cancel out the garlic breath... Well... that's my theory, anyway. I've read several recipes for this soup and most use one egg per serving, but I made mine with two. This is one of the BEST soups I've ever had. I make it often. 

Ingredients (4 servings):

4 slices of stale French or Italian bread from a bake shop,* cut or torn into bite sized pieces
4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
4 teaspoons parsley, chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
little sprinkle of salt to each serving (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon white or black pepper per serving
32 ounces chicken stock (low fat and low sodium is fine)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 to 8 eggs (depending upon 1 or 2 per serving)

Tear or cut the bread into bite sized pieces. Spread the bread pieces into your serving bowls. Drizzle one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil over the bread pieces in each bowl; and on the bread pieces of each bowl, sprinkle one tablespoon of cilantro, one teaspoon of parsley, one large clove of chopped garlic, 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Meanwhile, bring the chicken broth to a boil, then reduce the heat until the broth is barely at a simmer. Poach the eggs to the desired state of doneness (see Word History, below), then remove the eggs from the broth and place into the individual bowls. Pour equal amounts of broth into each bowl. Ready to go.     

* I cannot speak about other countries, but in the U.S., the mass produced sliced white bread labeled, "Italian," just doesn't do it for me for a recipe like this. I'm not putting it down, because I actually use it for sandwiches in preference to what is often termed, "sandwich bread."

 

WORD HISTORY:
Do-This common word is related to "deed" and to "doom," both words from the Germanic roots of English, and "do" goes back to Indo European "dhe," which had the notion, "to make, to bring about (later in English, as in, "to do harm"), "to be engaged in an activity (later in English, as in, "they got ready to do battle"), to put." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "donan," which only survived in the West Germanic branch (English is West Germanic) of Germanic as, "don," but with the same meanings. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "don," again with many of the same meanings, initially. It was not until the latter part of the Middle Ages that the word was commonly finally shortened to "do." The other West Germanic languages have: German "tun," Low German Saxon "doon," Dutch "doen," West Frisian "dwaan." ("Done" is the participle form of "do," with "doneness" being a derived noun, with the attached suffix.)

Portuguese & Brazilian "Green Soup": "Caldo Verde"

 

Edited for clarification purposes 11-21-21

"Caldo Verde" is a traditional soup from Portugal, also made in Portugal's former colony of Brazil. It is typically made with a type of cabbage grown in Portugal and the neighboring Spanish province of Galicia, but this cabbage is very tough to find outside of the above mentioned area; however, there is a suitable substitute, kale. Further, the Portuguese and Brazilians use their own "chouriço," or "linguiça," both types of sausages which are, again, not always easily found elsewhere in the world, but Spanish "chorizo" is much more readily available, and is "similar." (Note: This is the dry cured Spanish chorizo, not Mexican chorizo.) These Portuguese and Spanish pork sausages are flavored with paprika, with the Spanish version tending to have more paprika. In Portugal, this soup is traditionally served with Portuguese Cornbread ("Broa de Milho"), a crusty topped cornbread, somewhat different from American cornbread, due to its crusty top and dense interior, and it is made using yeast. While this is my own version, the basic recipe and information was from "Culinaria, European Specialties, Volume 2," chief editors: André Dominé and Michael Ditter; Christine Westphal, editor, Könemann Publishing,  Cologne, 1995

Ingredients:

1 lb. kale, with large stems removed, then chopped or torn into smaller pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
10 to 12 oz. chorizo, sliced into bite-sized pieces
2 cups water
6 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon pepper (white or black, but white is more common in Portugal, from my understanding)
drizzle olive oil on each serving

Simmer the sliced chorizo in the water for a couple of minutes, remove the chorizo, but keep the now flavored cooking water. In a large pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat, add the onion, salt, garlic and potatoes, stir well. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth and 1 cup of the reserved chorizo-flavored water, stir well. Adjust heat to simmer the soup for about until the potatoes are softened, but still firm and not mushy. Remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for a couple of minutes, then, using a stick blender, puree (also spelled, 'purée') the soup until smooth. Return the soup to the heat (medium heat, and if you want to thin the soup more, add the remaining chorizo-flavored water). Add the kale and pepper, stir well. Simmer to just soften the kale some ("about" 3 minutes; it should keep a nice green color this way). In each serving bowl, add 3 to 5 pieces of chorizo, then add the hot soup over it. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil onto each serving.

 
WORD HISTORY:
Cauldron-This word for "kettle" goes back to Indo European "kelhe," which had the notion "warm, hot." This gave its Latin offspring "calidus," with the same meaning, and this produced "calidarium," meaning "warm or hot bath." This then gave Latin "caldaria," meaning "cooking pot, basin," which gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "chaudron," meaning "kettle," and this was rendered as, "caudron/cauderon," in the northern dialects of Old French, and it was borrowed as "caudron" into English circa 1300, with the spelling "cauldron" coming a little later by influence of the Latin form. 

Tea Time

Expanded a bit on 12-27-2015 and photo added, as well as a little editing on 8-19-21

Tea drinking apparently goes back at least 4500 to 5000 years in China. It wasn't until the mid 1500s that western Europeans came into contact with tea, as the Portuguese settled in Macao (also "Macau") in southeastern China, which remained as a Portuguese colony until 1999! Then Dutch traders established themselves in southeastern Asia in Indonesia in the early 1600s, which later became the Dutch colony "the Dutch East Indies." The mid 1600s brought the marriage of England's King Charles II to a Portuguese princess, who made tea drinking a prominent feature among the nobility. The price of tea in those times was prohibitive for the spread of the drink to those not in the upper classes, but increased trade and involvement in India brought more tea, and lower prices, and sugar, into England. It wasn't long before the British began to sweeten their tea with sugar from the New World and tea drinking became popular with the general population, making tea the national drink. The ancestral homeland of the English (the Anglo-Saxons) is northern Germany, and their close relatives, the Saxons and the Frisians, still inhabit the area. The similar climate to Britain along the North Sea coast of Germany, and the availability of tea from Dutch importers, made tea a popular drink with the Frisian and Saxon population of the area, where tea is still the regional beverage. In the East Frisian part of northern Germany, rock candy is used to sweeten their tea, with some cream carefully layered a bit below the surface. The idea is to provide three distinct tastes: the bitter black tea at the top, the tea/cream mixture in the middle, and then the addition of the sweetness of the melting rock candy near the bottom. The East Frisians are known for their pickiness for black tea and their brands are considered topnotch.

Russians have had a strong attachment to tea going back to the 1600s, although its high price initially limited its availability to the upper classes. Russians traded directly with the Chinese by overland route, organized in caravans. It was quite a trip and "supposedly" the tea acquired a smoky flavor from being near the campfires during its long journey,* a characteristic still common in the most popular form of black tea in Russia, although the flavoring is now added. It is the national beverage of Russia, although vodka drinkers may question that... hic! Hey, I'm a tea drinker, honest!

Chai is a spiced black tea (sometimes green tea) and is my favorite. Chai typically has a lot of milk and sugar, and you can most certainly get it in any Indian or Pakistani restaurant in the U.S. or elsewhere. I make my own, pretty much every day, although I'm sure some Indians might not approve of my recipe or technique, although from what I'm told, there are considerable variations, even in India. Generally chai is black tea in about a 50-50 milk/water mixture, but I use far less milk (I use evaporated milk). When I've bought chai at Indian restaurants, it has always been very sweet, and I make it somewhat less so. I use fresh grated ginger, some ground cardamom, a bit of ground cloves (and often some ground allspice, too), a small bit of mace (or nutmeg), and some ground cinnamon. Some Indians or Pakistanis use black pepper in chai, too, and others use fennel seed. After letting the spices steep for awhile, you can strain the tea into your cup. You can buy tea bags already with a spice mixture in them, but I've never been very impressed with the result. You can also put the ingredients into a pan and gently boil the mixture. In this case, I tend to use a cinnamon stick, rather than ground cinnamon, as well as whole cloves and crushed cardamom seeds. I prefer to add the milk after the cooking is done, but you can cook it right along with the tea. Note: A while back, I also started using black pepper in chai, sometimes ground or sometimes whole crushed peppercorns. It gives the chai that added "zip."  

* It seems a bit of a stretch to me that tea packed for such a trip would acquire the smoky flavor this way. I wonder if at some point some open tea was exposed to the campfire smoke, the users liked it, and they then chose to repeat the process?

 

WORD HISTORY:
Tea-This word comes from a Sino-Tibetan word, "sla/tsla," which likely meant "leaf." Sino-Tibetan is a large language family in Asia and Southeast Asia which is the ancient ancestor of the Chinese dialects, like Mandarin and Cantonese, as well as southeastern Asian languages like Burmese and others. Sino-Tibetan is to these modern Asian languages what Indo European is to English, German, Italian, Russian, etc. Min Nan, a dialect of Sino-Tibetan had "te." Malay, an unrelated language from the Austronesian language family^  in southeastern Asia, borrowed the word from Min Nan as "teh." The Dutch East India Company was a private company granted Asian trade rights by the Dutch government in the early 1600s. The Dutch picked up the word from Malay "teh," rendered in Dutch as "thee," which they then brought back to western Europe, along with a lot of the product itself. English borrowed the word in the mid 1600s as both "tee" and "tea," before finally settling on the latter. Many other European languages borrowed the word from Dutch, for example, German has "Tee" (pronounced "tay"), West Frisian has "tee," French has "thé." Interestingly, the Portuguese had established themselves in southeastern China, at Macao, in the mid 1500s. The Chinese dialect in Macao pronounced their form of Sino-Tibetan "sla/tsla" as "cha." The Portuguese took the term as "chá," which they have retained to this day as their word for "tea." This same Chinese term spread elsewhere, providing forms to Russian and Persian, and from Persian to Hindi and other languages/dialects in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. English borrowed the word, likely from Hindi, as "chai," a term now used more specifically for "sweetened spiced tea." It is pronounced "ch," as in Charles, and "eye."    

^ Hawaiian is from the Austronesian language family, too.