Portuguese cuisine is the art of using quality ingredients while enhancing their distinctive flavors. Traditional recipes combine a blend of flavors, ingredients and techniques of many other cultures dating back centuries including rich Mediterranean and Moorish influences, as well as from India, Asia and Africa . The ingredients most common and essential include olive oil, onions, bay leaves, g
arlic, fresh coriander, paprika, chili peppers and red sweet peppers..."Nothing spectacular there"~ is what crosses my mind... it is the amalgamation of ingredients that make Portuguese fare unique. Some ingredients which were brought back to the motherland during the "Age of Discovery" reflect Portugal's seafaring history. Portuguese fishermen were the oceans explorers of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. They helped map the globe and returned with rare spices and exotic sumptuous edible treasures. They were among the first to experiment with cinnamon, pepper, cloves and nutmeg, modifying their peasant dishes into sweet indulgences with these new exotic pleasures.
