Olive oil, basic element of Portuguese food, history, caldeirada (fish stew) recipe & Cláudio Silva’s traditional shop in Lisbon
Already in early history the Portuguese used olives in their alimentation, but like in many mediterranean countries, it was the romans that were responsible for the introduction of the fine art of producing and extracting higher quality olive oil.
Nowadays olive oil is the main fat used in the preparation of Portuguese dishes, and also one of the main condiments. The Portuguese love ‘azeite’ (olive oil). Don’t be surprised when you sit in a restaurant next to someone who turns the bottle of olive oil upside down above his plate!
Bakers and farmers in the Alentejo area lay slices of their traditional enormous bread (pão alentejano) right out of the oven in a bath of olive oil, seasoned with salt and garlic. The famous Portuguese caldeirada (a fresh fish and potato stew) is cooked in olive oil and freshly grilled fish is always seasoned with lots of azeite (olive oil)
Together with garlic, salt, piri-piri, coriander (coentros) and parsley (salsa), olive oil is certainly the most important ‘taste-maker’ in Portuguese cooking.
Taking olive oil home
Olives and olive oil have always been the symbol of peace, strength, victory and glory. A perfect present! And: the most expensive ones are not always the best!
Olive oil (Herdade da Calada) from Alentejo, Cláudio Silva’s traditional shop in Lisbon
Of course, you can buy olive oil in a supermarket, but if you want to take something special go to a shop that specializes in wines and oil, like in Cláudio Silva’s traditional shop . just near the most famous square in Lisbon, Praça do Comércio.
Cláudio Silva: “Olive oil (Herdade da Calada) from Alentejo is really good, first cold press and a real good price: € 6,50.
Two olive oils that can be recommended because of their good price/ quality heuristic are for example ‘Azeite cortes de cima’ and ‘Azeite herdade de Pinheiro’.
