lisbon iii. wrap-up
I had to give the blog a week-long rest before posting my final wrap-up from Lisbon out of an effort not to over-saturate the content stream, but here you go. I want to share my final thoughts on traveling in Portugal, and give you a deeper review of my final few meals.
OK, so, on the subject of travel. I want to start with maybe the less optimistic side first, before I talk about the fantastic-ness of it all. While I feel absolutely transformed and refreshed by my experience in Lisbon, I know how naive that is. I was seized and transformed by a travel experience, in this case, because I was fortunate enough to have access to that experience. Now, does this mean that I couldn’t have been benefitted by an experience with a lower budget? No, not at all. But I am saying that getting one’s kicks by dipping the toes into the bright spots of a city for a week has some strange ethical implications; did I really engage with Lisbon, and really have a genuine experience, if I was simply taking what I wanted and wandering around without obligations on my birthday?
I’m honestly not going to reflect on those questions. I’ll sit on them and think about them for a while. For now, I want to quickly mention how fucking incredible Lisbon is. When I went, the weather was bright, beautiful, and a perfect 65 degrees. The streets were colorful and full of music. The air was filled with chatter. Most importantly, things felt slow; the perfect slow-ness, not in the way that it felt like a city in waiting for a big event, but in the way that it felt like people had a deep appreciation for their little moments. Lisbon has a fantastic historical context— the Alfama neighborhood I spent most of my time in was the oldest neighborhood in Europe. We stumbled across old Roman amphitheaters on walks and sat in 1000-year-old churches. This experience of slow historical reflection was very important for me at this point in my academic life; I needed to quiet things down.
The final three days of my trip were choc-full of fantastic eats. I started the third day with a classic sandwich: the bifana. Bifanas are traditional Portuguese pork sandwiches made with “thin slices of pork, a white wine paprika marinade, and papo secos bread.” I knew I needed to visit Bifanas do Alfonso, which was listed on several websites as an absolute must-visit. My sandwich was simple and delicious. The bread was soft, the pork was juicy and flavorful, and the cheese was very well-melted.
Next, we moved on to dinner for a fixed-menu feast at Prado. Prado is an artsy, upscale restaurant in downtown Lisbon. The menu is full of seafood, and quite dynamic. We started with prosciutto-wrapped quail eggs. These rocked my world; they were sweet, and the prosciutto was surprisingly crunchy, which contrasted against the egg texture nicely. Next, we snacked on a steamed butternut-squash dish, covered in a beautiful array of flowers and sat atop a delicious cream sauce. This tasted very solid, but it was really the plating that blew me away. Our next course of octopus was quite interesting. It was presented as a noodle dish, and tasted like a 7/10 noodle bowl with a 4/10 texture— but, of course, it wasn’t noodles, and for an octopus dish, it tasted yummy. Finally, we indulged in oyster mushrooms with fried pine nuts and a creamy chili sauce. This was by far the best course of the night. The mushrooms had a phenomenal texture and were very well seasoned, the sauce was savory, and the pine nuts added a phenomenal crunch.
The next day, we visited Time Out Market, a massive food hall with dozens of culinary options. The options were surprisingly varied, with both a ton of traditional Portuguese food and a decent amount of Mexican, Italian, etc. This ended up being the biggest regret of my trip. I got a steak sandwich, which, as you can probably tell from the photograph, really wasn’t anything special. I wish I had purchased the white chocolate and salmon toast I saw on the menu at another food stall. C’est le vie.
My second-to-last dinner of the trip was, shockingly, the best Caesar salad I’ve had in recent memory. The small, rather tourist-y Italian restaurant we visited had a nice ambiance, but I underestimated it when ordering my dish. I was wrong to do so. The salad had a very reasonable portion size, a pleasantly creamy dressing, and plenty of chicken and bacon— it was actually a very enjoyable main-course.
The next day, we arrived at the portion of the trip which I had been anticipating for days: the cooking class. The Lisbon Culinary School gives 4-hour cooking classes, complete with fantastic vibes, a great selection of snacks upon arrival, and the opportunity for a nice sit-down meal at the end of the day. Our instructor was phenomenal. I genuinely learned so much about Lisbon’s culinary tradition. Did you know that the Portuguese only want to eat Cod if it is extremely salty? Did you know about the strong affinity for rotisserie chickens in small Portuguese towns? I didn’t. We prepared three courses. First, we made pan-fried prawns. The process was quick and easy. The paprika flavoring on the prawns was delectable. Next, we prepared a marinated pork loin with potatoes and a chorizo crumble. The marinade only needed 30 minutes to really set in, thanks to the wonderful intensity of red bell pepper concentrated puree. The meat was tender, the chorizo crumble was a fantastic addition, and the potatoes, while not extraordinary, were a good carb choice. The cooking class was a great opportunity to expand my culinary skills and meet some cool people.
We rounded out the trip with good ‘ole Indian food. We went with the classic Chicken Tikka Masala and Saag Paneer. It was good, as always. No matter where I go, Indian food is a gift from God to mankind.
I loved Lisbon. I can’t wait to find more places to love.