Explore. Eat. Discover. Live.

It started when the Portuguese braved the waves in 1415.Whilst they were discovering cinnamon and Brazil,I was but a fine idea in my Creator’s mind. Now fast forward 145 years. A South African blue-eyed beauty married a Portuguese(without a corner shop) and voila...the grand design was finally crafted to perfection:one green-eyed-adventure-seeking-discovery-junky-cinnamon-loving creature was born. Having visited Portugal the first time aged 5, it would seem obvious to return to the homeland after 15 years of growing one-and-a-half-meters tall & firing up a love affair with food.After little persuasion,I clicked on "Book Now" and Portugal was about to be painted a darker shade of red! A carefully constructed itinerary ensured an assortment of trips down many lanes of memories.Featured items included feiras,sampling everything from grain fed ducks to garden gnomes,and by night, festas, where chickens,lavishly marinated in garlic,smoke away on the open fires & doughy delights, called farturas are fried in oil,dusted with icing sugar & gobbled down within seconds. Coastal cuisine never seized to amaze.After delicately steamed mussels & squid fried into mesmeric mouthfuls,it seemed a strange idea to have sardines for dessert. It was only when I stepped into a beautifully crafted pastelaria,complete with 60-something grey-heads watching the football,that I knew something was indeed fishy. And then I met it:One look at his blue(berry) eye & all resistance crumbled.Turns out the Portuguese love these fishy favourites SO much that sardine-shaped pastry is baked so it can be enjoyed even for dessert. Corner-shop standouts were found in Pastelaria Piriquita,where pillow-like pastries have been sold for 152 years.At the Santini’s ice cream shop,people have been screaming for their ice cream since 1949,and at Pasteis de Belem,custard tarts, encased in flaky pastry and sprinkled with cinnamon have been lovingly made since 1838. And then one day I had my very own I-could-totally-open-a-corner-shop-with-these-people moment. At a loss for words,I could only listen to the chatter at the table harmonising the sounds of cutlery beating on mismatched plates,each one passing bread or grabbing a bite. In that moment,I couldn’t help but reminisce about how it started when the Portuguese braved the waves in 1415.They may have made the buildings beautiful,the food fantastic & discovered cinnamon & Brazil. But I discovered something even more delectably delightful.I found my family.