Portugal and the Azores Islands

General Information

Why Portugal and the Azores Islands? I am not sure. I grew up in Providence, RI, which had a large Portuguese population.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/portam/foxpoint.html
When my sister Stefanie was born, my parents hired a live-in maid. Her name was Irene and she was from the Azores Island. She was very homesick but hoped that she would be able to earn money and then get the papers she needed to stay in the US and bring her family. It didn't work out that way and after that my parents hired several Portuguese women, both from the mainland and from the Azores Islands.
So I guess, when I started searching the internet for a country idea, Portugal came up and that led me to the Azores.
Coincidently, when doing a search, I found this article from the Jerusalem Post about increased trade between Israel and Portugal.
http://www.jpost.com/Sci-Tech/Article.aspx?id=289758

Jewish Life

Although Jews have a long history in Portugal, only about 600 remain today. In addition, the Jewish Virtual Library, lists another 100 Morranos.
The two groups are listed separately because the Moranos are actually a separate group.
"Benzion Netanyahu (the 100-year-old father of the Israeli prime minister), who, giving weight to the overwhelming consensus of rabbinical opinion spanning almost five centuries, have insisted that in initially choosing baptism and later failing to take advantage of the opportunity to leave pre-Inquisition Portugal, the Marranos forfeited their membership in the Jewish nation and situated themselves outside Jewish history.
In an ambitious new work, the intellectual historian Yirmiyahu Yovel rejects both these -approaches, favoring instead a portrait of the Marranos as neither Jewish nor Christian but something sui generis—“the other within,” in the striking phrase that serves as the title of his book, the summa of his distinguished career as a scholar of Baruch Spinoza and premodern Jewry. More important, Yovel believes the phenomenon of Marranism marks a new and significant element in the Jewish historical narrative, one that anticipated the varieties of Jewish identity that would emerge in post-Enlightenment Europe."(From 2009)

There are theories that almost all those from the Azores are of Jewish descent. I remember my father would joke about how many Portuguese workers at his factory had Jewish last names. He would tell them and they would be so surprised. Today there are no Jews in the Azores.

Portugal

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Portugal.html
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/the-mask-of-the-marranos/

Azores

http://www.isjm.org/Links/azores.htm
http://ojornal.com/portuguese-brazilian-news/2012/03/jewish-influence-still-part-of-azorean-culture/#axzz2Ax2U9XjG
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Azores.html

Cuisine (General)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_cuisine

Cuisine (Azores)

http://leitesculinaria.com/10318/writings-portuguese-azores-hearty-cuisine.html

Recipes

Kale Soup

Delicious. I could not find kale, so I used spinach leaves. 

Original Recipes:

\http://www.food.com/recipe/hearty-portuguese-kale-soup-82886
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Portuguese-Kale-and-Potato-Soup-356029
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/portuguese-kale-soup-recipe/index.html
http://www.food.com/recipe/portuguese-kale-soup-467982

My Kale Soup

Ingredients

6 potato, quatered
Meat bones
4 cloves garlic, chopped or grated fine
4 carrots, chopped
2 onion, chopped
Kale, not available try spinach or brocolli or combination
Chorizo sausage
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup kidney beans, soaked before overnight
1 tomato, chopped
pepper to taste

Prepare

Boil potatoes in lightly salted water.
Remove when done and mash.
In olive oil, saute onion, garlic, and carrots
In soup pot, add beef bones and  all other ingredients, except potatotes
Cook until done and then add potatoes and cook 5 more minutes

Chicken: Frango na pucara

Original Recipes:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Portuguese-Chicken-363753
http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/86095/frango-na-pucara-portuguese-chicken
http://cookeatshare.com/recipes/frango-na-pucara-portuguese-chicken-163135

My Chicken: Frango na pucara

Ingredients

2 whole chickens cut into 8 pieces each
1 -2  tbsp sweet paprika
salt and pepper
1 cup flour
1 cup chiken broth
4 tomatoes, chopped
small amount of some type of smoked cold cuts, such as pastrami (this is to give the ham flavor), cut into small pieces
2 red peppers, sliced
2 onions, sliced
2 tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 cup white wine
2 tbsp dijon  mustard
2 tbsp tomato paste

Prepare

Mix floursalt, pepper, and paprika together.
Dredge chicken pieces in this.
In a skillet, saute each piece of chicken and oil and cook about 3 to 5 minutes, until brown.
Remove and saute onions, tomatoes and peppers.
Place chicken in pot.
Add broth.
Cover with more paprika, tomato, peppers, onions, and bay leaves.
Add wine.
Bring a boil and then remove from heat.
Add pastrami, mustard, and tomato paste.

Wine substitution suggestions:
http://www.kitchensavvy.com/journal/2007/08/substitution-fo.html

Azores: Caldo do Piexe Fish

I served this as a first course at lunch. When I took it off the warmer it was more liquidy than I expected. It was still very tastey. I think I should have served some rice or pasta with it to absorb some of the liquid. 

http://www.tasteazores.com/pdf/Traditional/Azores_Caldo_de_Peixe.pdf
http://www.food.com/recipe/caldo-de-peixe-cape-verde-islands-fish-soup-279028

My Azores: Caldo do Piexe Fish

Ingredients

White fish, such as talapia, cod or sole
6 white potatoes, chopped
3 sweet potatotes, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
garlic, small pieces, grated
2 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
Parsley

Prepare

Boil sweet and white potatoes in salted water until almost done.
Cut fish into thick pieces.
Saute onion, pepper and garlic in oil
Add tomatoes and salt.
Add fish and water.
Let simmer and cook.
When cooked, add parsley.

Galinha ao Vinho (Azores Chicken)

Original Recipes:
http://www.reocities.com/thetropics/4338/meat.html#chiv
http://recipes.buanzo.com.ar/index.php?ident=2504

My Galinha ao Vinho (Azores Chicken)

Ingredients

Chicken pieces.
1/2 pound of mushrooms, sliced.
Shallots.
Tomato, diced.
1/2 pint dry white win.e
Margerine, with taste of butter.
Garlic.
Parsley.

Prepare

Season chicken with salt and pepper.
Saute in margerine about 10 minutes.
Add mushrooms and shallots and cook until mushrooms are golden.
Add tomatoes and garlic and cook until done.
Remove chicken and add wine to sauce.
Let simmer and season.
Store this way until Shabbat.
On Shabbat, warm ingredients.
Pour over chicken and add fresh parsely.

Portuguese Potatoes

Original Recipes

http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/food/cookingtips/784240/portuguese-potatoes

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/piri-piri-sauce-recipe/index.html

http://www.portuguesecooking.com/recipes/main_dishes/madeiran_potatoes_batatas_madierense

My Portuguese Potatoes

Ingredients

Potatoes
onions
1 cup soy milk
4 hard boiled eggs
margerine (taste of butter)
parley

Prepare

Cook potatoes in salted water.
When done reomove and drai.n
Mash egg yolks with small amount of soy milk.
Add potatoes, remaining soy milk, margerine and onions.
In baking pan, bake about 1/2 hour at 350.
When done add chopped egg whites.