PORTUGAL, with its windlashed coastline and rugged landscape, inspires an adventurous spirit that has influenced its people and food for generations. One of the most powerful seafaring countries in the world, Portugal monopolised the spice trade in the 16th century. Today, the country and its cuisine still benefit from the age of discovery and the ingredients obtained from trade routes linking Lisbon with the Maluku Islands and Malaysia by way of Kerala and Sri Lanka.
The roots of Portuguese gastronomy have also included a focus on ingredients’ pure flavours. Quality products don’t need to be overwhelmed in the process of bringing them to the table; perfectly simple dishes allow the essence of an item to shine through. And despite the Country’s modest size in the southwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula, it has incredibly diverse ingredients.
“Portugal is about simplicity and the quality of its products,” chef Kiko Martins told me when we met in Nazaré, a coastal town that’s home to some of the biggest surfable waves on the planet, which rear up from Europe’s largest underwater canyon to reach 30 metres
