Despite its proximity and the wealth and variety of its gastronomy Portuguese cooking is one of the few schools of cookery not readily available in Barcelona. Why do you think that is?

There is a common reason shared everywhere the Portuguese emigrated, historically they have adapted and worked for others unlike more entrepreneurial cultures where the emigrants have taken their culinary traditions with them and turned them into businesses. Another factor is that up until recently Barcelona was not really a destination for the Portuguese emigrant. Portuguese cooking does have its own identity that is quite easily distinguished in a city like Barcelona and there is a market for it. The proof is A CASA PORTUGUESA since 2006 we have been promoting a variety of sweet and savoury typically Portuguese dishes with great success.

As with Spain there exists a variety of regional cuisines in Portugal with their specific dishes, techniques and approaches the A Casa Portuguesa team represent the Algarve and Lisbon regions, which elements are shared by the various regional varieties?

Portugal is not a particularly extensive country and so regional specialities are shared throughout the national territory. You could say that the raw materials of our cuisine are shared everywhere from north to south: Cod, the Atlantic fish, pork, vegetables for making soup or the sweet cakes made using lot of eggs.  There’s a long list of recipes that can be found in restaurants throughout the country but its also true that each has a specific origin from a particular part of Portugal and that in each region, city or even the most remote parish dishes that reflect that particular community’s identity are available.

As a culinary school Portuguese cooking hasn’t been as successful as other regions of the Iberian Peninsula in marketing its food culture in the contemporary context. How would you describe the essence of Portuguese cuisine and why do you think that we are not so familiar with it outside of Portugal?

I think in Portugal the culinary heritage has been preserved in opposition to the ‘internationalisation’ of food, because in Portugal that’s seen as being impersonal and dull, so that the contemporary media have not really picked up on our cuisine. I would say that Portuguese food is essentially a family centric one, in which the age old traditions and dishes are maintained and updated for today retaining what is most important: joy, imagination and above all else spending time at the table.

Portugal’s trading nation status and its colonial empire dating from the middle ages spread its cuisine to places as diverse as India, Brazil, Africa and Japan with the incorporation of ingredients and techniques from these parts of the world. Are these influences still legible in modern Portuguese cooking?

Absolutely, this exchange of influences over the centuries has always been evident in our cooking, even the most traditional where the flavours of Africa or India can be clearly distinguished or the fried in batter dishes that the Portuguese brought to Japan which they call Tempura. But it’s true to say that contemporary Portuguese cooking and especially with younger chefs like José Avilez or Chakal has taken advantage of the possibilities of coming up with dishes based on Portuguese recipes using techniques and ingredients imported from the four corners of the old Portuguese empire.

What will be the focus of the dishes served at the new restaurant which you have just opened recently?

Seeing as this is the first Portuguese restaurant in Barcelona we think that there are four main points that the menu must address: In the more classical zone the barbeque dishes and traditional stews that were handed down from our ancestors. With the more informal area we have tried to recreate the traditional Portuguese bar, Portuguese tapas (petiscos, house speciality) as well as the steaks and seafood dishes served throughout the day. We are aiming to combine the past, present and future of Portuguese cooking.

A Casa Portuguesa. C. Verdi, 58.  T. 93 368 35 28

www.acasaportuguesa.com