Cuisines of Portuguese Encounters

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Around the world in your kitchen - Rated
I bought this book out of curiosity and I am glad I bought it. It's the sheer variety of food, cuisine styles, ingredients. They come from all continents and latitudes. Most ingredients are easily available from large supermarkets or specialist shops. There is a list of mail-order sources, but they are in the United States. The glossary helps in more than one way. I couldn't find morcela but the glossary suggested black pudding as a replacement. The book has in average one recipe each page, in a total of more than 330, in a combination of flavours from around the world. Something else I like is the section on Suggested Menus. It is excellent if you want to throw a themed party like a Brazilian Party Buffet or a Christmas Eve Supper as they do in Portugal.

Quite good but where is balti? - Rated
I think this cookery book is an excellent idea in itself. The recipes are also good, at least those I have tried. There is a great variety, starters, main dishes, snacks, sweets, almost anything. There is also great variety of ingredients. In such a good book I am surprised that something as popular as balti dishes is missing. Balti recipes, from the Portuguese "balde", meaning bucket, resulted from the 'Portuguese encounter' with India and are very popular in Great Britain (I don't know in the USA).

Delicious and educational - Rated
I had never seen such a happy combination of food and history. I have tried quite a few recipes in the book. They are all delicious. The cooking instructions are quite straightforward, and work. But that's not all. With these recipes you travel around the world, with the Portuguese in their 16th century travels. That's great. Another thing I enjoy in the book is that you get to know how the different ingredients came together in past centuries to make these delicious dishes, cakes, you name it, of today. This is a five star job!