"portugal" news and stories

A look at the banh mi craze currently sweeping Gotham, with young Vietnamese chefs interpreting the classic sandwich in non-traditional ways.

Critic Frank Bruni visits Feast, a Houston restaurant whose British ex-pat chefs turn Texans on to the unexpected joys of offal.

Twenty-five percent of Newark, N.J.'s population is of Portuguese descent. Here's what they're eating.

Some bars and restaurants are storing their by-the-glass wines in kegs and serving them as though they're beer.

More about our beloved Momofuku Milk Bar; a writer weighs in on the tooth-bendingly sweet treats.

Free from the shackles of the shaken-not-stirred vodka martini, former James Bond portrayer Pierce Brosnan is currently starring in Bond-like ads for Portuguese beer Cerveja Sagres. The first dialog-free ad features Brosnan fixing dinner for a lady friend (model Laura Mansfield) and running out at the last minute to grab a sixer of Sangres. Realizing he has no cash, he pays the clerk with an enormous diamond. The Sangres site is loaded with music reminiscent of 007 films and even has downloadable versions of the ad (even for your iPod), entitled "Diamantes." Yahoo! News UK has more here.

Casa Santos Lima is a family-run winery in Alenquer north of Lisbon. They maintain 160 hectares of vineyards which are planted with local native varieties including Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and the three grapes that go into this blend – Castelão, Tinta Miúda and Camarate.

For those who love those obscure grape varieties - Tinta Miúda means ‘small red grape’ there is some speculation that it could be the Spanish Graciano, which in turn is knwon in France as Morrastel. Camarate is a synonym for Casteláo Naçional, about which I know little and I assume Castelão is Castelão Frances (aka Periquita the ‘small parrot’). This should impart a raspberry flavour to a wine that gains more tar like qualities as it ages.

The wine itself has a subdued aroma – an interesting mix of summer fruits and fresh peas. Odd, but it was there. Sweet blackberry fruit dominate the palate gently slipping away to bring in rustic, gravely tannins on the finish. That rusticity remains when tried with food (something equally rustic required here) but overall the wine was more rounded, as it was designed to be, with food. In the UK this wine retails for around £6.

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