Are we missing Portugal?
Think about it for a moment. How many traditional Italian recipes do you know? And French dishes? The list will be long, unless you are interested in gastronomy. now think about Portugal . Beyond the topical of cod and pastéis de nata , what do you know about the cuisine of the neighboring country?
This, speaking as we speak of a country that for a good part of the Spanish population is a few hours away by car, or a shorter flight than most domestic flights, can only be understood in one way: we have never been interested in the cuisine of Portugal.
Or, to put it another way, if it is easier to find a Korean or Salvadoran restaurant than a Portuguese one in Madrid or Barcelona, something is wrong. Let's start by acknowledging.
It is true that, in general, it is a country that Spain likes a lot . tends to be seen as a friendly version of ourselves , with a slightly lower decibel level and generally more courteous treatment. different enough to be almost exotic sometimes similar enough not to make us feel totally foreign.
Think about how many people you know who have been in Lisbon or Porto in recent years, who have made a beach getaway to Comporta or who have been amazed by wonders such as Évora, Guimarães or the Douro region. They had always been there but, generally speaking, we have begun to pay more attention to it in this last decade . And we are liking it.
His kitchen, however, resists us . It's not that we don't like it, it's that we insist on not knowing it. Portugal is that place where you eat well and cheap . Cod, good fish. And traditional sweets with lots of eggs. That's where we got to. We reduce a cuisine of surprising diversity, with influences from all continents, to three or four topics.
And that's if we talk about traditional cuisine, because if we go to the contemporary food scene our ignorance –with honorable and very few exceptions- is encyclopedic.
It's a shame, because Portugal has made a spectacular leap in this regard in the last decade. I'm not saying it, it has been said, among others, by media such as the CNN, the BBC, The Wall Street Journal, the Telegraph or The Independent people like him so cried Anthony Bourdain . And, although it is wrong to say it, we, here, have also dedicated a few reports to it ( and those that we have left ), because we are in love with the country, its cuisine and its gastronomic scene.
But still, we continue to ignore the portuguese cuisine . And this is reflected (or maybe it's the other way around, I don't know) in the great gastronomic guides, in which the country's presence remains anecdotal.
It is true that in the top 50 list , one of the most prestigious on the international scene, some of its restaurants have been climbing positions and in others, such as the ranking Opinionated About Dining , their presence is also significant. And growing.
However, the Portuguese gastronomic sector feels neglected. Justly. The publication of the 2021 Michelin guide a few weeks ago was one more episode in this disagreement . An episode that, despite the fact that the Portuguese presence in the guide has grown in recent times, has caused some obvious discomfort among cooking professionals from the neighboring country.
Does this scant representation in the guides correspond to reality? My answer is a resounding no. I have known the country well for more than three decades and in the last 10 years I have traveled at least four or five times a year throughout its territory. I probably know Lisbon better than Barcelona or Valencia. And that allows me to have a certain overview of what happens in the country's cuisine and, above all, of the way how it has evolved.
From my point of view Gastronomic Portugal is going through years of unprecedented vitality among chefs and producers , years in which the progression has been constant and meteoric. Lisbon and Porto are today very serious gastronomic destinations. I would dare to say that right now they can be among the 4 or 5 most interesting cities on the Iberian Peninsula and that they can look at many of the others face to face, without any complex.
Belcanto, The Yeatman, Alma, Ocean, Vila Joya, Casa de Chá da Boanova, Feitoria … The list of excellent restaurants is long. And yet, the number of stars awarded nationwide remains shockingly low.
The impressive building of Casa de Chá da Boanova
To understand the situation beyond my personal perception, I speak with some of the most respected critics and chefs in Portugal, professionals from different areas and diverse profiles that help me find some guidelines.
Contact with Duarte Calvao , food critic who for years was director of the event Fish in Lisbon and who is currently in charge (along with the critic Miguel Pires) of the Marked Table awards; Duarte Lebre , a gastronome resident in Lisbon and a good connoisseur of the country's gastronomic panorama and, together with them, I gather the opinion of chefs such as Joao Rodrigues (Feitoria, Lisbon), Christian Rullan (Le Babachris, Guimaraes), Joao Cura (Clam, Porto), Vasco Coelho (Euskalduna Studio, Porto), Antonio Galapito (Prado, Lisbon), Diogo Noronha (Fishing, Lisbon) and Filipe Ramalho (Basilii, Alentejo).
And the general feeling is, in this sense, of disenchantment . They are aware of the enormous progress that has been made in their field in recent years and, although they do not need a pat on the back from anyone, they do not understand the reasons for this emptiness.
Among the names for those who claim greater prominence and for those who expect (one more year) new stars, some are repeated: “ It is incomprehensible that Feitoria did not already have the second star years ago ”, comments one of the cooks from the north “both for their work in the restaurant and for the very important work they do with the Project Subject , an essential initiative for vindicate the work of small producers throughout the country”.
Other names that are emerging among those who still do not have a star and barely have an echo in the press on this side of the border: Cavalariça (Comporta), Esporão (Reguengos de Monsaraz), Euskalduna Studio (Oporto), Almeja (Oporto), Arkhé (Lisbon), Elemento (Porto), Ferrugem (just outside Braga), Le Monument (Porto), Vila Foz (Porto), O Paparico (Porto), S. Gião (Moreira de Cónegos), Cura (Lisbon) , Essential (Lisbon), Sála (Lisbon) or Prado (Lisbon). They are not few.
Portuguese gastronomy is not where it deserves
Precisely in the latter I had my last dinner in the country last February, before the world turned upside down . And it was one of the most interesting meals I had in months, on par with or ahead of many others in Spain. Who has written about Prado here? What guides does it appear in? I could be wrong, of course, but it is an absence, one more, that seems resounding to me.
The problem, I think, is that we cannot measure another country with Spanish parameters, no matter how close it is and how familiar it is to us. We don't do it when we go to France, Sweden or Poland , so I don't see why the hell you have to do it in Portugal.
One of the cooks consulted comments: "I'm sorry that they don't look (the Spanish) more deeply at our gastronomy" . Another, in the same line, adds: "I had a Portuguese inspector who came to make a technical visit, the rest have all been Spanish." People from another country, with another gastronomic culture, who measure what happens in Portugal with the parameters of another country. This note is mine.
“There are many Spanish restaurants that I admire” , comments one of the Lisbon chefs, making it clear that this is not a confrontation between countries. “My favorite restaurant in the whole world, in fact, is in Spain: Etxebarri . However, going back to Portugal, I think that restaurants like Euskalduna deserve a star. For his job, for the recognition that it brought to the cuisine of the north, for the irreverence and, above all, for the contact with producers and clients”.
“Why not a third star for Belcanto or for the Ocean? And Feitoría right now has the best menu of its history, with the best product, always with an immense flavor. The work of João (Rodrigues, his cook) mapping producers throughout the country is admirable”.
"What sense does it make that contemporary Portuguese cuisine has more echo in the British or American press than in the Spanish, that outside the big cities there are more French customers than Spanish?" The reflection is not mine but of a cook from a small city, but I share it.
Tradition, nearby products, round dishes and history
“Many of us have worked with some of the great Spanish chefs. And it is a pride and priceless learning. We know the panorama from within and, furthermore, we often go to enjoy , because Spain has some of the best restaurants in the world. But precisely for that reason, because we know what is happening there, we are convinced of what we are doing here. And though we don't need it yes we would appreciate a little more recognition , because really interesting things are being done in Portugal”, concludes one of the chefs.
We've been missing it too long. I don't quite understand the reasons, but it is so. And it's time to ask (once again) for that to change . As soon as it is safe, as soon as we can do it, it will be time to get in the car and tour that country that is both so close and so far away, sit at its tables with open eyes and an open attitude. And learn. And enjoy.
And if the guides don't take the hint, they already will. Because sooner or later they will. In the meantime, here are some of the many names worth starting to explore..
“Look”, concludes one of the interviewees, “ I would only like that both inspectors and Spanish fans come to enjoy meals in Portugal just as I enjoy them in Spain ”. Enjoy. It is not more than that.