Alright, alright, let’s talk about this… uh… Portuguese pork stuff. Recipes, they call ‘em. Fancy word for cookin’ meat, if you ask me.
So, Portugal, that’s a place, right? Far away, across the water. They got pigs there, just like we do. And they cook ‘em up different ways, I hear. Lots of ways. Pork dish types, they say. Well, a pig’s a pig, ain’t it? You can roast it, fry it, stew it… same as a chicken, mostly.
One thing they got is this… Cacoila. Sounds like some kinda disease, don’t it? But it ain’t. It’s just pork, cooked slow. Real slow, like when you ain’t got nothin’ else to do all day. They put spices on it, and… citrus? Like lemons and oranges? Huh. Never tried that myself. We mostly just use salt and pepper. Sometimes a bit of paprika if we’re feelin’ fancy.
- They say this Cacoila comes from some islands. Azores, they call ‘em. Islands, huh? Guess they got pigs on islands too. Imagine that.
- And they cook this pork real slow, and marinate it. Marinate… that’s just soakin’ it in stuff, right? Like when you soak beans overnight, but with spices and… citrus, I guess.
Then there’s this… Peri Peri pork. Sounds spicy. I ain’t much for spicy food myself, burns my stomach somethin’ awful. But some folks like it, I reckon. They say it’s tender and juicy. Well, pork should be tender and juicy, that’s just good cookin’. If it’s tough, you cooked it wrong, simple as that.
Now, they got this other thing, Black Pork. Says it’s special, high quality. Pigs roam free, eatin’ acorns. Acorns? Them things squirrels eat? Well, I’ll be. Guess it makes the pork taste good, though. They say it’s the best. Top-quality meat. Costs a pretty penny, I bet. We ain’t got no fancy acorn-eatin’ pigs around here, just regular ones. But they taste good enough for me.
Bacalhau… Wait a minute, that ain’t pork! That’s fish. Codfish, to be exact. Why they talkin’ about fish when we’re supposed to be talkin’ about pork? These folks get sidetracked easy, I swear. Anyway, they dry it and salt it, then soak it in milk or water. Sounds like a lot of work for a fish, if you ask me.
Okay, back to pork. Carne de Porco à Alentejana. Now that’s a mouthful. Just call it pork stew, why don’t ya? This one’s got black pork, marinated in wine. Wine! Well, ain’t they fancy? And paprika, red pepper paste, garlic… sounds alright, I guess. Then they put clams in it! Clams? With pork? Now that’s just weird. And potatoes, too. It’s a whole mess of stuff, this stew. But I guess folks like it over there.
They say pork and beef are the most common meats in Portugal. Well, same here, mostly. Though we eat a lot of chicken, too. Cheaper than beef, you know. And pork… well, a pig can feed a whole family for a week, if you stretch it right. Noblemen ate meat all the time back in the old days, they say. Well, I ain’t no nobleman, but I like my meat, too. Specially pork. You can do so much with it. Fry it up for breakfast, roast it for dinner, make a stew… it’s good any way you cook it, long as you don’t burn it.
So, there you have it. Portuguese pork recipes, or whatever they call ‘em. Sounds like they got some fancy ways of cookin’ pigs over there, what with their citrus and acorns and clams. But at the end of the day, it’s just pork. And pork is good eatin’, no matter how you slice it. Or marinate it. Or stew it with clams, I guess. Though I still ain’t sure about them clams.
More about cooking pork. You can make soup, you can put it in bread, you can even make cakes. I remember when I was a little girl, my grandma used to make this delicious pork cake. She would use the leftover pork, chopped it and put it in the cake dough. It sounds strange but it was very good. I don’t think they have this in Portugal, it’s our family secret.
And that’s all I gotta say about pork for now. I’m gettin’ tired of talkin’. Time for a nap, I think.
Tags: Portuguese Food, Pork Recipes, Cacoila, Peri Peri Pork, Black Pork, Carne de Porco à Alentejana, Portugal
