Whelks

[puff_not_snuff]

Have you ever eaten or cooked whelks (sea snails)? I received this excellent Portuguese cookbook (generally I don't like cook books) as a gift and it has a few whelk recipes I might give a whirl.

All you need to know about Portugal: The Cookbook | food | Agenda | Phaidon

It’s the largest collection of traditional Portuguese recipes ever translated into English, and it’s a deeply satisfying kitchen companion

www.phaidon.com

 

[greeneyes]

Portugal has amazing food. I was there last year for a work conference and walked into a supermarket to stock my hotel room. An entire wall dedicated to breads and pastries. Another to cheeses and dairy. Another with every type of sausage and raw and cooked ham. The Portuguese are a culture that take pride in their foodstuffs as it forms an inextricable part of their national identity. Roasted sucking pig, stuffed calamari heads. By comparison it becomes apparent that not every culture invests so much care in the quality of the farm-to-pantry products that comprise the day to day family table.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Portugal has amazing food. I was there last year for a work conference and walked into a supermarket to stock my hotel room. An entire wall dedicated to breads and pastries. Another to cheeses and dairy. Another with every type of sausage and raw and cooked ham. The Portuguese are a culture that take pride in their foodstuffs as it forms an inextricable part of their national identity. Roasted sucking pig, stuffed calamari heads. By comparison it becomes apparent that not every culture invests so much care in the quality of the farm-to-pantry products that comprise the day to day family table.

Well, you must get this book! It's phenomenal. I have not been to Portugal, yet, but often eat out and shop in Newark, NJ which has a huge Portuguese community and have been into their food for 20 years now, although likely a bit watered down version. Some of the recipes in this book are rather obscure outside of the region or town which they originate. It's very interesting to flip through even if you aren't interested in making the recipes.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Hey, @JOHN72 do the Spanish and Portuguese still like to think of each other as backwards bumpkins?

 

[JOHN72]

I have had the good fortune to taste some dishes in the south and north of Portugal. A key factor, its intact tradition, culture and customs. Portugal is like an oasis in the desert. Tuna and cod, my favorite dishes there.

 

[JOHN72]

Hey, @JOHN72 do the Spanish and Portuguese still like to think of each other as backwards bumpkins?

I can speak in the first person, of your question, my friend. The relationship between neighbors is one of the best in Europe. They come and go, just like us. Nothing negative to point out about this beautiful country.The people are friendly and calm. A country for bohemians. My in-laws have a country house in Arbo, Galicia, on the border, a couple of kilometers away, with the villages in the north of Portugal. Almost every year, we go to eat in the nearby villages, and to shop in their traditional market or supermarkets. Their butter and cow's milk are incredibly tasty. Well, you know, the fish there is spectacular.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

I can speak in the first person, of your question, my friend. The relationship between neighbors is one of the best in Europe. They come and go, just like us. Nothing negative to point out about this beautiful country.The people are friendly and calm. A country for bohemians. My in-laws have a country house in Arbo, Galicia, on the border, a couple of kilometers away, with the villages in the north of Portugal. Almost every year, we go to eat in the nearby villages, and to shop in their traditional market or supermarkets. Their butter and cow's milk are incredibly tasty. Well, you know, the fish there is spectacular.

That's nice to know! I use to have this friend from Catalan who would always say nasties about the Portuguese and I began to think it was a common opinion in Spain...

As an American I love our southern and northern neighbors equally although Mexican food is vastly superior to both American and Canadian.

 

[JOHN72]

That's nice to know! I use to have this friend from Catalan who would always say nasties about the Portuguese and I began to think it was a common opinion in Spain...

As an American I love our southern and northern neighbors equally although Mexican food is vastly superior to both American and Canadian.

We have a serious problem with, the wrongly named Vasco country and Catalan independence. Due to the laziness of our politicians, who for decades, have contributed to this division between Spaniards. Political corruption is the fruit of the chaos of social and sovereign instability that Spain lives today.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

We have a serious problem with, the wrongly named Vasco country and Catalan independence. Due to the laziness of our politicians, who for decades, have contributed to this division between Spaniards. Political corruption is the fruit of the chaos of social and sovereign instability that Spain lives today.

John, I have to be honest- I cannot stand that Catalan accent with the lisp, so it's hard for me to take much of what they say seriously.

 

[greeneyes]

I have had the good fortune to taste some dishes in the south and north of Portugal. A key factor, its intact tradition, culture and customs. Portugal is like an oasis in the desert. Tuna and cod, my favorite dishes there.

Also Leitão à Bairrada, the suckling pig; which is served differently, but equally deliciously, in old-town Segovia.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Also Leitão à Bairrada, the suckling pig; which is served differently, but equally deliciously, in old-town Segovia.

But, have you eaten whelks (buccino) in either Spain or Portugal?

 

[greeneyes]

But, have you eaten whelks (buccino) in either Spain or Portugal?

Sadly not. I hadn't the opportunity to spend by the sea in either country, though I wish I had.

 

[Andre_T]

Well, you must get this book! It's phenomenal. I have not been to Portugal, yet, but often eat out and shop in Newark, NJ which has a huge Portuguese community and have been into their food for 20 years now, although likely a bit watered down version. Some of the recipes in this book are rather obscure outside of the region or town which they originate. It's very interesting to flip through even if you aren't interested in making the recipes.

If you live in NJ and want Portuguese food come to Mineola on Long Island. Biggest Portuguese festival outside of Portugal. If you do come DM me.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

If you live in NJ and want Portuguese food come to Mineola on Long Island. Biggest Portuguese festival outside of Portugal. If you do come DM me.

Will do, and thanks for the offer but I don't get out to LI much as I hate the drive there from where I'm at. I actually bought my car not far from Mineola and ate at a Portuguese restaurant around there. Good food but it was too much of a white table cloth place.

 

[kcghost]

It is good to hear about the culture of Portugal being so rich and dynamic, I imagine the whelks are very good. Here in Kansas - Missouri the feud goes on. The Kansas can't get grip on how the Missourians kicked hell out of them 160 some years ago and Kansans call the Missourians "hillbillies". Funny thing about this feud is both sides are right.

 

[bullet08]

Not specifically whelks, by other similar shell fishes. Only thing I know about Portuguese is their lovely figs. They have fig wasp, so figs get pollinated becoming even better. Knew an old gent who used to upload pictures of Portuguese figs and dishes on a fig forum. They were beautiful.

 

[OzPiper]

Have you ever eaten or cooked whelks (sea snails)? I received this excellent Portuguese cookbook (generally I don't like cook books) as a gift and it has a few whelk recipes I might give a whirl.

Petersham is a Sydney suburb nicknamed “Little Portugal”
Whelks is on the menu of one of my favourite restaurants there.

Always find the time to have a coffee and one(or two) pasteis de nata (pastel de Belem) afterwards.

 

[sablebrush52]

How big a magnifying glass do you need to cook them properly?

 

[Wet Dottle]

I spent a few summer vacations in the south of Spain with the family and, yes, the Portuguese food is so much better. It was worth the couple hours drive to go there eat. I don't like the way they cook fish, but I've never had better shellfish anywhere in the world. They also have regional sweets and deserts like nobody else. What I also found is that the farther north you go, the better is the food.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

How big a magnifying glass do you need to cook them properly?

I dunno probably slightly less large than one to magnify your jokes to the point of being funny?