World Food Thursdays

Country No. 10: Portugal

 

Date: 18/11/2014

 

Venue: Sporting Clube de Londres, Westbourne Grove

 

Attendees: Ben, Lee, Kim, Becky, Paul, Maor

 

Cost: £32 a head

 

As I’m sure the erstwhile Philleas Fogg would certainly agree every journey around the world has its highs and its lows, the times when you are blown away by what you have been privileged to be a part of, and the times when you find yourself on a long journey home, bilious like a hot air balloon, questioning the very worthiness of the adventure you have set out upon.

 

This evening’s fare fit firmly into the former. Paul managed to pull an absolute gem out of the hat for Portugal.

 

We turned up in our usual dribs and drabs and each member of the group must have checked and double checked the address as they entered the unassuming looking building tucked away on a quiet street by a skate park in West London. The only indication that we were going through the looking glass were the colours of Sporting Clube de Portugal. Sporting Clube de Londres is best described as the London Branch of the Sporting Supporters club. The walls are adorned with trophies, replica shirts, and best of all, a giant screen showing the clash of the titans; Ronaldo v Messi.

 

As if the scene wasn’t already set the genial hostess approached us and proceeded to engage us in some undoubtedly interesting conversation…however it was all in Portuguese (on her part anyway). Once she was over the shock of non-natives entering her little outpost (ahem) she made us feel very welcome by bringing a handful of Portuguese beers.

 

In what is becoming quite a chaotic ordering environment attendees debate the merits of starters, then which starters, then which mains for a considerable amount of time, making and breaking sharesies pacts until the waiting staff are driven half mad. Once alliances have been made they are swiftly broken when midway through the ordering process diners typically just start shouting out things they would most like to eat. The outcome of the process this time was as follows. For starters the ubiquitous Salt Cod Croquettes, Steak in port sauce with chips, Caldo Fresca (one bowl that was handed round the table), Prawns, some very very fishy sardines and clams in white wine and garlic sauce.

 

There was more than enough to go round and at this stage we could easily have stopped feasting however there were still 5 main courses to follow; Salt cod in olive oil, Steak on a hot stone, Steak on skewers, Piri Piri Chicken, Grilled squid.

 

The piri piri chicken was sadly a bit of a disappointment and although I am distressing myself by writing this, Nandos do it better.

 

Oh if only the bland piri piri chicken was the only let down of the evening though. The biggest disappointment of the night came at the end of the meal when the otherwise amenable waitress gently broke the news that there were no pateis de nata on offer. I daren’t look Maor directly in the eye in case I see his face slowly crumple, and I’m sure the feeling was mutual.

 

Disappointments aside Portugal was one of the best, and certainly one of the most bizarre, experiences of WFT so far.

 

Portugal facts:

 

• The Portuguese were the first colonialists to abolish slavery

• In Arabic (and several other languages) the word for orange is Portugal, or a derivative thereof. Portugal has the perfect climate to grow oranges however until the 15th Century the oranges they produced were bitter an unappealing. At some point in the 15th century they cultivated orange trees in their south Indian colonies, they exported these round the world and the name Portugal became synonymous with the colour orange.

• With the same defined borders since 1139 Portugal is the oldest nation state in Europe; the capital city of Lisbon (for centuries only notionally, not officially) is 400 years older than Rome.