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Portugal, Spain and Brazil
  • No Cheese
Eyl – Ara 2015

Portugal, Spain and Brazil

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    30 Eylül 2015
    No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Arrival in Oporto

    30 Eylül 2015, Portekiz ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    I decided to set up this blog as an afterthought, a companion to Roch's "Less Cheese" blog which chronicles our travel adventures. I, however, only want to write about "food", and what we as vegans are eating on our cycling journey.

    We arrived in Oporto September 27, 2015, a Sunday, which meant a lot of things were closed. We were happy to sit out in a sunny piazza and munch on some mandarin oranges and bananas that we had bought for lunch.

    For dinner, we decided to go to Espaco Compasso. Although they were open, the chef was unfortunately sick that day. We asked the kind young man who greeted us if he could recommend another restaurant and per his suggestion, we ended up at Tia Orlando, a Mozambic restaurant where we had a delicious mushroom and bean dish done in a coconut curry sauce. Yes, I know, not very Portuguese but it sure made our tastebuds and bellies happy. 17.90€ for the both of us and that included a local beer for Roch.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Black Mamba

    30 Eylül 2015, Portekiz ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    On Monday, many establishments were still closed but Tuesday, everything was open. Porto was like a new city.

    We decided to go to the market today. Yesterday's trek to Mercado Ferreira Borges proved fruitless since it's no longer a farmer's market. The Mercado had been converted to a cultural centre of sorts and we enjoyed an interesting photo exhibit but no fruits.

    Today, we walked up to Mercado do Bolhao but found it rather disappointing. It had none of the typical hustle and bustle that we love about a market and frankly, the prices were quite high. We left the market with just a small cherimoya for 1.30 euro.

    For lunch, we went to "Black Mamba - Burgers & Records", a totally vegan burger joint that also sells vinyl records. I had read some reviews where people were put off by the hard metal/punk rock music that the restaurant plays but we found the music was not very loud and as a result, not very intrusive.

    We both decided to order the "666" burgers. The patties were made with potatoes and leek and they came topped with lettuce, tomato and a slice of vegan cheese. I was even able to get a gluten-free sesame seed bun for an extra 1.50€. The burgers were scrumptious and the pan fries were perfectly seasoned and nice and crispy. 4€ for a burger, 2€ for pan fries, 1.50€ for a beer for Roch.

    As much as we were tempted to order a crumble or brownie for dessert, we wisely left and bought some figs from the little grocer down the street instead. We got about 20 oh-so-sweet green figs for 1.30 euro. We stopped at another fruit stand on the way home and bought 6 beautifully ripe persimmons for just over 3 euros. Add in some bananas, some white peaches and we had a feast for dinner.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Casa da Horta

    30 Eylül 2015, Portekiz ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Today for lunch we went to "Casa da Horta", a cultural and environmental association that also serves vegan and vegetarian food. The menu changes daily depending on who's cooking and or volunteering in the kitchen. Today's menu was vegetable soup followed by lentil burgers served with rice and salad. The highlight was definitely the vegetable soup - so flavourful. This soup was definitely not made with OXO cubes! The lentil burger was good but we both found it a little heavy on thyme. The price could not be beat. 12.50€ for the both of us, including a glass of kombucha each.

    Dinner once again featured fresh figs amongst a selection of other fruits. The prices for fruit was generally better at the local grocers then the big Mercado. One of our favourite merchants was "Casa Oriental" close to Torre dos Clérigos. Some typical prices:
    Figs: 2.95€/kilo
    Bananas: 0.79€/kilo
    Persimmons: 2.45€/kilo
    Grapes: 1.79€/kilo
    Mangoes: 3.25€/kilo
    Peaches: 1.59€/kilo    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Aveiro

    2 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We arrived in Aveiro after a fairly long 86.5K ride that left us famished despite the fruit stop we made along the way. Our first priority after checking in and showering was to find food. We consulted the Happy Cow website and found a vegan/vegetarian friendly cafe called Biscoito a 5 minute walk from our hotel.

    There were only 3 vegan options available, a hummus sandwich, a vegetarian bruschetta and sautéed mushrooms... so we ordered all three.

    Although the portions weren't huge, they were undeniably quality dishes and very delicious. The total for all three including a small beer for Roch came to 14€.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Restaurante Ki

    2 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We started our 2nd day in Aveiro visiting the Mercado Manuel Firmino. Maybe the Market is busier in the early morning but we didn't start our day till close to 1:00 pm - ahhh, the joys of retirement! We weren't sleepy in the early afternoon but the market was.

    Nonetheless, at one of the three produce stalls, we found strawberries on sale for 1.49€/kilo so we got a bag and started selecting the nice ripe ones. We were picking from the various crates till we were tsk'ed tsk'ed and told that only the crates containing the "small" strawberries were on sale. The big strawberries were regular priced, 3.49€/kilo. No worries. We're not into size!

    After the market, we went for lunch at Restaurante Ki, a macrobiotic restaurant offering a daily-changing 2-course set menu for 8€. We started with a chickpea & sweet potato soup, followed by a plate composed of polenta, veggies and seitan. The tea was complimentary. Everything was very enjoyable, especially the soup even though it could have been a tad hotter. The set menu was a good deal but the desserts at 3€... not so much.

    We sat out in a beautiful piazza after lunch and with the warm sun upon our faces, we felt truly blessed as we gobbled our small succulent strawberries.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Coimbra

    3 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    We cycled from Aveiro to Coimbra today with many a 'up-the-hill' and 'down-the-hill' and 'up-the-hill' and 'down-the-hill'. As much as I liked the descents, I started to dread them knowing that what goes down, must come up.

    We arrived with quite a hunger around 2:00 pm and were very pleased to find a fruit store just around the corner from where we're staying. Many of the fruits were on special for 2€ for 2 kilos. For 5.86€, we bought a large melon, a huge bunch of grapes, 6 persimmons, 2 big peaches, 2 nectarines and a plum. This was the best fruit deal we've had since arriving in Portugal.

    After lugging all the fruit back up the 2 flights to our little apartment, we went in search of a sit down meal. Our apartment is located right in the historical centre where restaurants abound and luckily, we found one offering vegetarian options within minutes.

    We took a seat at one of the outdoor tables at Cafe A Brasileira and we both ordered the "caldo verde", a popular soup in Portuguese cuisine which we had been looking forward to sampling. The basic traditional ingredients for caldo verde are potatoes, kale, olive oil and salt. Additionally garlic or onion may be added. If all caldo verdes taste as good as the ones we had today, I want a caldo verde everyday of my life! What's more, the large and generous bowls at Cafe A Brasileira cost a mere 1.20€ each.

    The vegetarian special of the day which we thought was asparagus with tofu was actually a type of pasta with tofu. Boy does our Portuguese suck! The pasta was rather disappointing and the grouchy waiter we had was hardly Mr. Charming... but still, I'd go back tomorrow for another caldo verde!    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    La dolce vita

    4 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    In the short week that we've been in Portugal, we couldn't help but notice the abundance of "pastelarias" or pastry shops there are in every city, town and village we've come across... and they're always full of locals.

    So what do you do on a rainy Sunday when almost everything is closed? You join the locals for a moment of indulgence because the pastelarias are open! After returning to Cafe A Brasileira for a big bowl of yummy vegetable soup, we fell off the vegan bandwagon and sat ourselves down at the award winning Pastelaria Briosa where Roch ordered a bolo formigo and some almendrado cookies to share.

    The bolo formigo was a very moist cake that tasted of walnuts, coconut and chocolate chips. The almendrados are gluten-free cookies made with mainly almonds, eggs and sugar, and they have a wonderful chewy texture.

    Coming out of the cafe, ohh sweet serendipity, we see a poster for a pastry show at the Antiguo Convento de Sant'Anna... happening today. How could we not go?

    With determination, we trudged up and up and up the hill and eventually found the Sant'Anna convent. On display and for sale were pastries from some of the best pastelarias in Coimbra. We ogled and drooled at every table, tasted free samples or simply feasted our eyes. At Doçaria Paula Rosa's table, we even found gluten-free treats so as we left the convent, down and down and down the hill we skipped swinging our little pastry box of "bolo rançoso" and "toucinho do céu".

    PS: Bolo rançoso is made with pumpkin, ground almonds, egg yolks and sugar. We mistakenly thought "toucinho do céu" meant touch of heaven but later learned that it meant 'bacon' of heaven! The name was so derived because the traditional version of the cake was made with lard. Thank goodness the modern version is more Esther-the-wonder-pig friendly!    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    A Toca do Gato

    5 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Another rainy day in Coimbra and a good day to curl up with a book, do laundry and take a nap.

    We managed to get out in the morning to visit the municipal market before the downpour. The fruit stalls at Coimbra's market had the best prices we've seen since arriving in Portugal. We couldn't resist buying a big bag of the juicy sweet green figs on sale for 1.99€ per kilo. On the way home, we stopped for some roasted chestnuts, 10 for 1.50€.

    Later in the afternoon, we once again ventured out, this time in search for a late lunch. Our intention was to go to a vegan restaurant we found on the Happy Cow website but we got sidetracked by "A Toca do Gato", a little mama-papa restaurant with only 3 tables. We asked if they could serve us something vegan and they offered up vegetable soup, salad, and rice with beans. Sound great, we thought, so in we waltzed and sat ourselves down on 2 of the 3 bar stools since all 3 tables were full.

    I've been wanting to go to a mama-papa restaurant since arriving in Portugal and this one did not disappoint. The place was quaint and unpretentious. The other patrons were all locals and as tiny as the restaurant was. The food was simple but delicious. We each had a home made vegetable soup followed by a plate of beans and rice, followed by salad... then followed by another plate of beans and rice and another salad! Oh what gluttons we were! The total including a glass of wine for Roch: 10.60€    Okumaya devam et

  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Dux - Petiscos e Vinhos

    6 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    The sun was supposed to come back out today so we decided to visit the university and its library dating from antiquity. Since the botanical garden was virtually next door, we went in for a stroll. The sun, however, remained shy behind the clouds and we had to duck under trees for rain cover on more than one occasion.

    We eventually strolled through the botanical garden and emerged on the far side and took a roundabout route to get home so we could see more of Coimbra.

    We needed to stop for a washroom break so we went into Dux, a "petiscos & vinhos", which is the Portuguese equivalent of a tapas & wine bar. The restaurant looked rather bland from the outside but inside, it was quite swank. They provided us with an electronic menu in English and we ended up ordering all their veggie options: soup, sautéed vegetables, cabbage greens, rice cooked with onions, and fried potatoes.

    We were so happy to see veggie options other than soup and salad on the menu. Everything was delicious but I must say the cabbage greens sautéed with garlic was exceptional. Total cost for our veggie fare was 16€, including a generous glass of red wine for Roch.

    PS: I later discovered that Dux is rated #1 out of 267 restaurants in Coimbra on TripAvisor    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Happy Thanksgiving

    12 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Today is Canadian Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be thankful for, beginning with Roch, our families and friends, and after my bike accident, I am very thankful to be alive.

    Today is also the first day I’ve had a chance to get out and walk around Figueira da Foz since arriving here after the accident on October 7. Up till now, I’ve mainly been resting and recuperating in the hotel.

    I’ve been staying on a raw vegan diet to give my body foods that are as nutritionally dense as possible. The exception has been a big bowl of soup a day. I can’t count how many times we’ve been saved by soup here in Portugal. Almost every restaurant big or small has vegetable soup on the menu, some for as little as 1.25€, rarely for more than 2.50€, all of them without exception have been good, really good, or amazingly good.

    While I rest at the hotel, Roch has been bringing me a double portion of vegetable soup from one of the local restaurants. You can tell that this soup is home-made, there is a depth of flavour you just can’t get with bullion cubes. Some days there’s more carrots, other days there’s more cabbage, some days there are chickpeas, other days there are beans, every day the soup is scrumptious.

    I was looking forward to getting out and about today so we first went to the municipal market to stock up on more fruit. We wandered rather aimlessly afterwards, just enjoying the day. Since today was Thanksgiving, we decided to have a Thanksgiving meal out and as such, while strolling the streets of Figueira, we made a point of peeking at the various menus we passed along the way. We ducked down a small side street and noticed a quaint little home-grown restaurant with a billboard menu on the sidewalk. We went to take a look but there wasn’t much on offer for vegans… but looking inside pass the front bar area of the restaurant, we saw a back room filled with locals. We had to eat there.

    Roch managed to convey to the very sweet woman who came to greet us that we were vegan and after she asked us to wait for a moment, she came back to seat us. We started the meal with yet another delicious bowl of vegetable soup, followed by rice, potatoes, chickpeas and a mixed salad of lettuce, carrots, beets, corn and onions. Everything was simply prepared without any pretention, just down to earth goodness that we happily ate up with much thanks and gratitude. The total was 12€ including bread, a little carafe of red wine for Roch and a bottle of water for me.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Lisbon

    21 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    We've been hanging out in Lisbon for just shy of a week. This city has its ups and downs... literally! Lisbon has got to be the hilliest city I've been to. There is no getting from point A to point B without having to go up one hill only to have to go down another. That being said, Roch and I both love the vibe of Lisbon. It's a good place to hang out a while.

    The choices for vegans are much better here than in a small city like Figueira da Foz but we've not really come across anywhere to rave about in terms of quality and price combined.

    Our first night in Lisbon, we dined at "Jardim das Cerejas". They had a mainly vegan dinner buffet for 9.50€ which is an amazing deal. We found the food to be quite good, particularly the lentil soup, but nothing was knock-your-sock-off wow.

    We had lunch one day at Santapiadina. They make a vegan piadina with hummus and grilled veggies which is absolutely scrumptious. The portions aren't huge though... or maybe we were just really starved. In any case, we found ourselves still hungry after we scoffed down a whole piadina each so we hiked up the hill to a little pizza joint that sells pizza but the weight. Roch had a slice of pizza margarita and I had a slice of mushroom pizza. Both were quite delicious but they were no bargoon either. The piadinas were 6€ each which Roch had with a pricy glass of wine at 3€. The two slices of pizza came out to $11.24 CAD.

    We've become regulars at the "Pingo Doce" supermarket where we can buy ready-to-eat salad greens and fresh soups that taste homemade. Occasionally we buy cooked broccoli or spinach or rice at the deli counter as well.

    We've shopped at the Mercado da Ribeira but generally find that the prices at the frutarias to be just as good if not better. There's a frutaria on Avenida Infante Santo that we like in particular. They have the most amazing persimmons and the best prices for chestnuts. We've been happily taking advantage of the small oven we have at the "quirky" apartment we rented through AirBnB to roast our own chestnuts rather than pay 2.50€ for a small bag of 10-12 chestnuts from the street vendors.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Happy 5th (9th) anniversary!

    21 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Waking up in the hospital after a blood transfusion is not the ideal way to start an anniversary. Sadly, the meal we had at "Princesa do Castelo" did not brighten the day. We started the meal with nachos and hummus but the cumin they put into the hummus was just... weird. For our mains, we shared a tagine (over rice rather than couscous) and a veggie dish done in a tomato coconut sauce. I liked the latter well enough but the tagine was only OK. Both dishes were verging on cold which was a little off-putting, and the whole dining experience was underwhelming ;-(

    We stopped off at the mercado to get a bottle of Portuguese bubblies and we also picked up some pastries on the way home. All's well that ends well.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Belem

    24 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We took a tram ride out to Belém on Wednesday. The "pasteis de nata" that we see throughout Portugal originated in Belem and are known as "pasteis de Belém".

    A little history: At the beginning of the 19th century in Belém, next to the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, there was a sugar cane refinery linked to a small general store. Following the liberal revolution of 1820, all convents and monasteries in Portugal were shut down in 1834 and the clergy and labourers were expelled. In an attempt at survival, someone from the monastery offered sweet pastries for sale in the shop; pastries that rapidly became known as 'Pasteis de Belém'.

    In 1837, the baking of the 'Pasteis de Belém' began in the buildings adjoining the refinery, following the ancient 'secret recipe' from the monastery. This recipe, passed on and known exclusively to the master confectioners who hand-craft the pastries, remains unchanged to the present day.

    The pastry on these Pasteis de Belém are wonderfully flaky and a little crunchy. The custard is not too sweet. Sprinkled lightly with cinnamon, they are divine. I have no idea how many millions of pasteis they bake up and serve each day but one went happily into my belly and another into Roch's.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Rosa da Rua

    24 Ekim 2015, Portekiz ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    On one of our many jaunts through the streets of Lisbon, Roch noticed an interesting restaurant called "Rosa da Rua" on Rua da Rosa. They offer a buffet for 10€ that included several vegetarian/vegan items.

    Our first attempt to eat at Rosa da Rua on Monday got sidelined by a trip to the emergency...

    Our second attempt to eat at Rosa da Rua was on Wednesday. We arrived at the restaurant shortly before noon but it didn't open until 12:30 pm so while we waited, we poked around the many frutarias in the vicinity. We went back just shy of 12:30 only to be told that the only table that wasn't reserved was just given away to the couple ahead of us. We could take our chances and go back after 13:30 but there was no guarantee that a table would be available. We later learned that the Wednesday buffet was extremely popular because they serve traditional Portuguese dishes.

    At this point, feeling starved and defeated, we decided to go back to one of the frutarias that had a small pastry and lunch counter attached. Yes, it was a moment of weakness because we knew we were going back for the quiche we had spotted. We got there just in time because the restaurant became quickly packed with locals, standing room only, all of us leaning against the counter or one of the bars along the walls. We started with a vegetable soup made with chickpeas and spinach; it was one of the yummiest of many yummy soups in Portugal. This was followed by a slice of quiche each. No, the quiche was not vegan. It wasn't even vegetarian since it contained tuna but OMG, it was so delicious. Overall, a truly amazing and memorable dining experience. Total bill for lunch for the both of us, 5€!!! (1€ for the soup, 1.50€ for the quiche). We tried to find the name of the frutaria/pastelaria but couldn't see anything displayed so Roch snapped a photo of the street corner for reference.

    We did make it back to Rosa da Rua the next day, and yes the buffet was very good. For meat and seafood eaters, it would have been a really good value but the choices for vegans was a little limited. We did try the vegetarian spinach lasagna but instead of a traditional tomato-based lasagna, it was made with a very heavy cream - too rich for my blood. The soup, which was velvety smooth, was once again the highlight of the meal for me. (Food photos are from Rosa da Rua.)    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Málaga

    28 Ekim 2015, Ispanya ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We were told Malaga receives 300 days of sunshine a year so when we arrived under rainy skies after an 11-hour overnight bus ride from Lisbon, we were of course disappointed. Add to the fact that it was a Sunday and most places were closed, we soon had hunger, tiredness and crankiness to contend with.

    Despite this rather inauspicious start to our sojourn in Spain, it feels like our luck has changed and things are looking up.

    We've gone back to a mainly whole food raw vegan diet since arriving in Malaga so we've been foraging the vicinity for good fruits. We're a short 10-minute walk to the Mercado Central Atarazanas but we soon discovered that the Mercado does not necessarily have the best prices. It's also a little annoying that none of the vendors allow us to touch or even select the fruits we want to buy.

    We've discovered several fruterias in our neighbourhood on Calle Don Juan de Austria. One in particular has very good prices and I'm sure we'll be returning there over the next 10 days (cherimoyas 1€/kg --> 4 good size cherimoyas for 1.10€)

    East and a little north of where we're staying on Avenida Rosaleda, the neighbourhood becomes more local in flavour and this is reflected in the price of fruits. We bought a case of 9 perfectly ripe persimmons for a total of 1€!!! Mangoes that weigh in at almost 1 kilo each cost about 1.60€. It's so easy to be a fruitarian here... as long as your fridge is stocked coming up on a Sunday.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    La Tranca

    7 Kasım 2015, Ispanya ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Malaga has been good for us. It's a very livable city with an interesting history but there aren't a million tourist attractions and consequently, it's not flooded with tourists. As a result, we've been able to take it easy and just enjoy day to day life here.

    We've been enjoying the wonderful fruits available in Spain as well as Roch's culinary skills once again. In fact, we only went out for our first meal yesterday even though we've been here for almost 2 weeks.

    In our many jaunts to the old city and the beach, we often passed in front of a small tapas bar called "La Tranca". The place was always full of locals and so we decided to join the crowd. We sat at the bar and ordered 2 slices of vegetarian tortilla made with lots of spinach-like greens and a cana each. The tortilla was really tasty and unbelievably inexpensive (1.50€) for the huge portion we got. We also ordered the chickpea cazuela not knowing that it would have many chunks of pork in it. We ate it nonetheless; it was also really delicious though we both commented on how odd and unpleasant it was to have meat stuck in your teeth!

    Our barman/waiter was a really nice guy and he did his best to speak to us in English. The vibe of the whole place was ace.

    The cazuela was 2€ each and the canas were 1.40€ for a total of 9.80€.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Tapas y canas

    7 Kasım 2015, Ispanya ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    For our last day in Malaga, we decided to indulge in tapas. We knew we would be challenged to stay vegan but how could we come to Spain and not eat tapas? After looking online for tapa bars that had good reviews, we set out to check them out.

    Our first stop was Bodega Quitapenas where we each had a tapa-size portion of seafood paella. For a tapa-size portion, it was very generous. A quick look around to the other patrons - mostly locals - revealed that we were not the only ones to be enjoying the scrumptious paella. At 2€ a serving, it's not hard to understand why.

    Our second stop was Bar Lo Gueno. We ordered a ratatouille that came topped with a quail egg and a bean dish that admittedly had flecks of ham or bacon in it. We found both tapas to be very tasty but rather oily. We're just not used to eating so much oil anymore.

    Our third stop was supposed to be Casa del Perro but it was closed so we circled back down towards the harbour to sit in the sunshine for a while. We dropped into the tourist information centre to ask where we could find an Internet cafe to print out our bus tickets and that led us to a part of town we had not explored previously.

    After taking care of business at the Internet cafe, we were just walking about when we noticed a billboard sign for Bar Copetin advertising free paella. Since Roch was still feeling a little peckish, we went to check it out. The bar was very no frills but what it lacked in decor, the owners made up for it with their warm hospitality. The hostess literally beamed as she offered us free paella which she promised was rich and delicious. Roch ordered a beer but I got a free tapa-size portion of paella even though I didn't order anything to drink. The paella was traditional style made with chicken and it was indeed delicious. After we each finished our share and were about to pay, the hosts insisted on offering us yet a third portion. It was hard to say no, especially since it was so yummy. So, for the price of a beer (1.50€), we got 3 free portions of paella. Well, it don't get better than that!    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    La Paella Sevilla

    10 Kasım 2015, Ispanya ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    We miraculously made it to Seville on a bus that went "go-go-go-stop... go-go-go-stop", and with each stop, it had a harder time going again. As we entered Sevilla, the bus load of passengers prayed for green lights and cheered each time a red light turned green without the bus having to stop, but our luck ran out about a kilometre from the Sevilla bus station. The bus stopped at a red light and would go no more.

    Fortunately for us, that put us closer to our AirBnB accommodations so we checked in at 13:00 as scheduled with our hosts before heading out for lunch.

    Having arrived on a Sunday, we were fully expecting everything to be closed so it was a pleasant surprise to see so many people out and about and eating at all the tapa bars and restaurants that were open and chock a block full of diners. The city was incredibly "alive"!

    We decided to try out "La Paella Sevilla" because many online reviews raved how it was the best paella joint in town. There was definitely a wow factor as we walked in and saw the huge paella pans, each ready and waiting to be dished up into "ración" or tapa size servings according to your order, 5.95€ per ración or 2.95€ per tapa.

    We decided to go with a full size serving of the seafood paella and two tapa size servings, one of the traditional Valencia paella and one of the "paella a banda". We had no idea what the "paella a banda" was but it was literally flying out the door with locals ordering double portions of it to take away. So many locals couldn't be wrong...

    ... and they weren't. The "paella a banda" is a Mediterranean paella made with squid and peeled shrimps. Yummy! In fact, all 3 paellas we tasted were delicious.

    As we sat and savoured our paellas, there was a constant stream of locals coming in to do take away orders, including one patron who walked out with 2 of the huge paella pans that we reckoned must serve at least 10 people per pan. Party on!!!    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Sevilla oranges

    14 Kasım 2015, Ispanya ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We bookended our stay in Sevilla with paella, returning to La Paella Sevilla with my family before we caught our bus back to Malaga. Lucky me, they had vegetarian paella when we went back.

    In between our two paella sessions, we ate a lot of mandarin oranges. Our favourite stall at the Mercado de Feria was selling them for 2€ for 2 kilos and though we could get mandarins for the same price elsewhere, the mandarins at this particular stall were exceptionally sweet and juicy. We bought 2 kilos as part of the breakfast we brought over to my family when they arrived. We ended up buying them 5 kilos more… then 2 kilos more…

    I didn’t eat out with my family very much but I did join them at the Bodega Mateo Ruiz across from the Airbnb apartment where we were staying. The bodega was a family run local joint, a true Spanish experience. There was absolutely nothing vegan on the tapas menu painted on ceramic and posted on the wall. The only vegetarian option - the asparagus tortilla - was no longer availability due to lack of popularity. Everything available was laced in garlic and doused with olive oil. My family loved it. They stood at the bar alongside the local clientele and happily chowed down their tapas and soaked it all in.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    So long, Spain

    15 Kasım 2015, Ispanya ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We took the bus back to Malaga to catch our cruise to Brazil. We couldn’t check in to the Sovereign till 15:00 so we walked around town and had one last tapa and caña to say goodbye to Spain. We stopped at the Azahar Tapas for a slice of tortilla and a tapa-size portion of paella. The caña was San Miguel and the portions were generous. Everything was so yummy and inexpensive, plus the owner was super nice. We couldn’t understand why the place wasn't jammed packed full.

    We were sad to leave Spain, but we know we'll be back.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Pullmantur, Sovereign

    24 Kasım 2015, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We’ve been onboard the Sovereign for 9 days. For the first part of the journey sailing from Malaga to the Grand Canary Islands, there were only about 300 passengers so the boat was relatively empty. The passengers were older and more European. Many of them spruced up for dinner – elegant dresses for the women, suits and ties for the men – even when the suggested dress code was casual.

    However, this changed significantly once we got to Las Palmas. The average age went down as the majority of the original passengers disembarked and a younger free-spirited clientele embarked in its place. Shorts, t-shirts, and torn clothing made their appearance in lieu of elegant dresses and suits and ties – even when the suggested dress code was gala.

    The food on the Sovereign has been both excellent… and not. Watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe have been the staple of my breakfast for the last 9 days and I have no reason to believe this will change for the 2 days remaining. In addition to the melons, pineapple is usually available along with oranges and granny smith apples. Why there are no bananas available is a little mind boggling. They’ve only shown up once at the midnight tropical buffet where we also got to sample papayas and guavas. Luckily, dates and raisins are available as toppings for the muesli so I occasionally indulge in those when I need a more caloric breakfast.

    Normally on a cruise, I tend to avoid the lunch buffet, preferring instead to save my appetite for the sit-down dinner at the end of the day. However, as vegans aboard the Sovereign, the lunch buffet has proven to offer the best and yummiest choices. Typically, there’s a salad bar, a section with specifically vegetarian options, and an Asian section that also offers vegan/vegetarian choices. Even the regular section usually has an item or two available to vegans, like those little oh-so-delicious roasted potatoes. There’s usually a whole variety of deserts, cookies, mousses, bread pudding, crumbles, rice pudding, fruit tarts, cakes, as well as the ol’ reliable slices of melons, pineapple and fruit salad.

    Dinner, on the other hand, has been a disappointment. Although the menu offers an appetizing variety for the carnivore passengers, there is usually only one vegetarian option available and it’s rarely gluten and dairy free. Add to the fact that despite changing tables twice, we still find ourselves at an empty table with no other dining guests to chat and mingle with and you can understand why dinner is not our favourite meal onboard.

    That being said, our assistant waiter, Jose has been a real charm. When we got transferred out of his section after arriving at the Grand Canaries, we asked to be transferred back. Jose is a real sweetheart, very personable and always service with a smile. When he found out we were having a tough time with the menu, he arranged to have the chef make us a special vegan dish – Indian curry. If it weren’t for him, Roch and I would probably skip going to the dining room and just go upstairs to the buffet instead. The buffet serves pretty much the same menu as the restaurant but usually has a salad bar, and if we’re lucky, a compose-your-own stir-fry station.

    With 2 more days at sea, I’m starting to look forward to terra firma and all the tropical fruits that Brazil supposedly offers.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Terra firma

    27 Kasım 2015, Brezilya ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    It's so fruitfully delicious to be back in tropical climes. We've been gorging out on mangoes and papayas once again while discovering new fruits for the first time.

    Our first bite of a cashew fruit didn't exactly make us sing hallelujah. "It's OK", we both thought. But somehow by the third or fourth nibble, we slowly got hooked to it's subtle flavour and juicy flesh.

    When Roch tried an umbu for the first time, he thought it tasted like 7-up! We're just coming into umbu season (December to March). Umbus are apparently unique to Brazil so we'll have to enjoy them while we're here.

    Saturday, when we took the bus to the Novo Mercado do Rio Vermelho, we noticed a hustling and bustling outdoor market along the way so we decided to check it out on the way home. We bought a dozen green mangoes, 3 papayas, 10 small cherimoyas, and a big bunch of bananas for R$ 9.00 - that's $3.27 CAD!!!

    The first time we bought the green mangoes, it was with the help of Kelly, our hostess at Pousada Colonial. We bought them from the fruit man who passes by the pousada with his cart of fruit every day around 12:30 pm. If Kelly didn't encourage us to buy them, I doubt we would have because they didn't look ripe yet they felt overly soft at the same time. However, the first time we tasted these green gems, we went gaga. So fragrant and so sweet. One of the best varieties of mangoes I've ever eaten.

    We also found a fruit man in the old part of time who sells fruit that's sliced up and ready to eat. It was entertaining just watching him carving up the pineapples. Locals would come along and drop him a real (R$) and help themselves to a wedge of watermelon or a piece of pineapple. We had to, of course, join in with a couple of reals of our own.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    The Flavours of Bahia

    29 Kasım 2015, Brezilya ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Bahia is considered the soul of Brazil where the country's cultures and races have mixed to produce what many believe is authentically Brazilian.

    Bahian cuisine has Portuguese and native Amerindians contributions but the greatest influence came from the enslaved Africans who brought with them their own style of cooking. Malagueta chili peppers and dendê oil features prominently in many if not most dishes.

    Roch tried his first "acarajé" yesterday from an 'authentic' street market Baiana as compared to the Baianas we see in the historical centre who are carefully dressed for the tourist trade. Acarajé is made from shelled fradinho beans (similar to black-eyed peas), which are mashed together with ground shrimp and other ingredients, formed into a ball, then deep-fried in dendê oil. It is served split in half and then stuffed with vatapá or caruru, shrimps, and salad, and hot chili pepper. (Vatapá is made from bread, shrimp, coconut milk, finely ground peanuts and palm oil mashed into a creamy paste. Caruru is made from okra, onion, shrimp, palm oil and toasted peanuts and/or cashews.)

    For dinner, we sampled our first moqueca, one of the region’s most popular dishes. Moqueca is a salt water fish stew that's slowly cooked in a terra cotta casserole. It's made with coconut milk, garlic, onion, cilantro, pepper, tomatoes, and the ubiquitous dendê oil and the flavour is reminiscent of a Thai curry. We had a vegetarian version at Bar Zulu so it wasn't authentic per se but oh my, washed down with an icy Skol beer, life just does not get better.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Barra

    6 Aralık 2015, Brezilya ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We spent the last week of Salvador by the beach in the Barra neighbourhood. Overall, Barra felt much safer than Pelhorino but it took us a few days to get over our jitters from being mugged last Sunday. We essentially lay low and just took advantage of the yummy fruits that we easily found at the various fruit stalls peppered throughout the neighbourhood.

    The quality of the fruit at the fruit stalls was high but the prices were low. A fruitarian's dream! A mango or small papaya typically cost R$1. A big bunch of bananas cost R$4. The most expensive fruit we bought was soursop at about R$10 each. We bought two of them and wished we bought 20 mangoes instead with our R$20. Soursops look like a cherimoya on the inside but they sure don't taste like cherimoya. They're a little sour, a little musky... not our cup of tea. We essentially tossed them in the garbage.

    Our dining out included a moqueca at Todo Azul and more memorably, the buffet lunch at Oliva Gourmet located in the Barra Shopping mall. The buffet was R$37.90, all-you-can-eat including pastas made to order. The buffet itself had quality food with lots of vegan choices. I particularly enjoyed the grilled veggies which were not too oily, the rice salad made with broccoli and mushrooms, and the mini pao de queijos. The paos aren't vegan since they're made with Minas cheese but they're gluten-free since they're made with cassava. The texture and taste were phenomenal, cheesy and a little chewy. Roch thought they were like savoury marshmallows.

    We also tried the beans and rice at two of the three mama-papa restaurants around the corner from where we were staying. Beans and rice were really the only vegan/vegetarian options available to us at these eateries but no complaints as the food was usually delicious and a generous portion typically cost R$10. Washed down with an ice cold Skol and life was pretty sweet.    Okumaya devam et

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  • No CheesePortugal, Spain and BrazilNo Cheese

    Copacabana

    10 Aralık 2015, Brezilya ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    After Salvador, Rio feels like a different country. Salvador felt edgy and a little dangerous. Rio by contrast is very vibrant and cosmopolitan, or at least Copacabana is. We haven't had occasion to venture further than Ipanema yet.

    Copacabana is a fairly affluent neighbourhood and the cost of fruit reflect this. Mangoes, bananas and papayas are easily R$1 to R$1.50 more per kilo than in Salvador and we don't see bargains like pineapple for R$1 like we saw in Salvador but the relative sense of safety here is a good trade off.

    Our newest yummy discovery is açai sorbet. We read online that the best açai was at Amazônia Soul in Ipanema so we headed there yesterday to try a bowl. A large bowl costs R$22 ($8 CAD), almost three times as much as the bowl we tried the day before at Sorvete Alex in Copacabana. True, the R$22 bowl was amazingly good and creamier in texture than the R$8 bowl... but not that we thought the R$8 bowl tasted bad. In fact, we quite loved it. I guess we'll have to do more investigating :-)    Okumaya devam et

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