Monday 13 July 2009

Restaurante O'Refugio, nr Lisbon



I took a short break from all the end-of-term madness at MMU to go to June and Rowena's joint birthday party in Valado da Santa Quiteria, a small village about an hour from Lisbon. It was a great party with all the trimmings- and it went on for two days, at least that's what I remember! Outside of that though, two culinary highlights stand out.

Firstly, a fabulous lunch at the Restaurante O'Refugio as a thank you to Maria. I stayed on Maria's farm with the goats, rabbits and chickens-I ain't afraid of no goats. The lunch was long and leisurely washed down with a rustic White and a few glasses of Port, the kind of delight that only the Europeans know how to indulge.

The second was an afternoon spent helping Maria make 'pasteis de Bacalhau', croquettes of salt cod, potatoes, egg and parsley and as fine a thing ever to come out of a frying pan as I've ever tasted. It was an experience I will never forget, I had found an Iberian Ambridge and my very own Clarrie.

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