The High Price of Good Bacalhau

Lily the kitty loves bacalhau, too. (Or is that fear in her eyes?)

It may seem strange for a blog called The Bacalhau Chronicles not to feature bacalhau in every post. After all, if my goal is to cook 365 different bacalhau recipes, why do I only cook it once or twice a month?

Erm... good question. There are two solid answers to this one.

1. I am growing to like bacalhau more and more. It is a learning project for my tastebuds which I am embracing and appreciating. But I am not ready to eat bacalhau every day, not even in the name of blog science.

2. It is very expensive stuff.

My Portuguese Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is a big deal in Portugal.  It is the day when the presents are opened, it is the night of the traditional meal of bacalhau, and it is the day when the family gathers together for the holiday.  So I was not too surprised when we arrived at Bacalhau Boy's sister's home for the Ceia de Natal and we were greeted by this huge sideboard of goodies:

Ginjinha

I have to share this amazing piece of reporting on ginja, the sweet cherry liqueur of the Lisbon streets. I am a hardcore "ginjinha" fan, and if you aren't yet... well, watch THIS:
Liqueur: There’s nothing like Ginjinha (video)

The Immortal Love of Pedro and Inês

Bacalhau Boy had a birthday last week.

Because I am a clever girl who will use any excuse for luring him away from his workaholic tendencies, one of his birthday presents was a romantic weekend road trip to find the footsteps of Portugal's most famous star-crossed lovers, Dom Pedro I and Inês de Castro. 

And because I am also an excessively share-y and excitable girl, here is a little of what we saw from this extraordinary (and TRUE) love story which began almost 700 years ago... and is still waiting for its happy ending.

(If you are not a fan of tragic and haunting love stories, stop reading now. No judgement.)