A bend in the River - V. S. Naipaul

Este é outro dos meus escritores preferidos. O senhor V. S. Naipaul ganhou o Nobel da literatura em 2001. Gostei em particular de dois livros: A curva do Rio e Sementes Mágicas. Deixo aqui uma das frases que tomei nota: "The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing. have no place in it." V.S. Naipul in: A bend in the River.

Berlin Balls on the beach - Bolas de Berlim na praia

Bola the Berlim is fried sweet dough, filled with egg cream that became part of the Portuguese culinary tradition. Our favourite place to it, is on the beach! The Portuguese recipe is an adaptation of the original Berliner. The original was brought to Portugal during WWII, when Jewish German families took refuge in Portugal. The originals were filled with red berries jam. But the Portuguese most popular version is filled with egg cream, more in line with our taste and traditions. We love egg sweets in Portugal. We also use just normal sugar to dust it, rather than powder sugar. There are plenty of versions around the world, but I love the Portuguese recipe. You can find this Bolas de Berlim in any pastelaria (bakery with coffee shop), but our favourite place to eat them, no doubt, is on the beach. That’s when they taste out of this world. It is a Portuguese tradition and I don't know any portuguese who doesn't have memories eating them on the

Haagen-Dazs creates Pastel de Nata flavour Ice cream

To celebrate their 25 years in Portugal Haagen-Dazs created a new recipe of ice cream, inspired by one of the most celebrated and well known Portuguese flavour:Pastel de Nata (egg custard). We have seen this flavour around in Portugal for a while, but having such a big brand incorporating this flavour in their sales (at the moment exclusively in stores in Portugal), give us a good indicator of the potential of the flavour. This ice cream doesn’t make part of my memories as a child or young woman, as I don’t remember it at all, but jus having the word “Pastel de Nata” in it`s name, makes me think of exotic cinnamon, rich cream, tasty caramel and crispy pastry, and reminds me of the window shops in Lisbon`s bakeries, with big trays full of this cakes. I hope this ice cream make it to more tables and Haagen-Dazs around the world, just as the original Pastel de Nata is doing.

Easy, delicious elegant starter with melon, Parma ham and figs

I love this starter! It’s so simple But almost everyone likes it! Takes almost no time to do, doesn’t require any kitchen skills and can look great if you present it in a nice way. All what you need is a melon or galia melon, whatever you prefer, and a pack of Parma ham. If you can buy two different tips of melon you will get different colours on the plate. Preparation Make little balls of melon with a kitchen utensil. Display on a plate. Shred in big pieces, slices of Parma ham and display randomly on the top of the melon. If you have some dried figs, you can also chop one on the top of each plate. And you delicious easy starter is done! You can have it just as a snack with a glass of bubbles or use as starter with different mains. The remaining melon can be used straight away, if you blend it with some water and mint, for a lovely drink, otherwise you can freeze it and use for smoothies.

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