robm on March 19, 2023

This translation of the classic "Cozinha tradicional portuguesa" is not currently in print (in 2023) and an expensive book to buy now, but it's indispensable as an encyclopedic overview of Portuguese cooking. There are a few rough spots in the translations but experienced cooks can figure out what the correct English words should be where there are questionable choices. The principal things to know about this volume is that its title is accurate: this book covers traditional cookery, including from the country's rural areas which are little changed from medieval times. That means many recipes using offal and blood because subsistence farmers waste no part of an animal to be slaughtered. Many of these dishes existed in other countries but have vanished in modern times, but not in Portugal where they live on as foods people eat to this day. The book also has a huge number of recipes for the traditional Portuguese egg and almond sweets, many invented in medieval convents.