Different Tastes on the Portuguese Girl's Tongue

Every Sunday my parents would go and visit my dad's mother in Fall River, which meant going from Mayberry to the Bronx section of Portugal in 20 short minutes.

It was so different there, the air had different scents, the first stop off the Braga Bridge was Columbia Street, where the smells were heavenly fresh Portuguese bread on every corner, the smell of sausage intermingled with broiled chickens, linguica etc. Oh and the giant bagged sweat bread.

As a kid there is your family and then there is rest of the world and to a Portuguese kid there is your family and "Americans" that it is until you get older and realize even "Americans" were once from somewhere else as well.

In fact, the epiphany for me, the moment  "ohhh, I get it" came when I was 14 and took my second trip to the Azores  (I was 3 the first time) that I realized my parents were "Amircans" now too.

They wore American fashion and they spoke with "AMERI-GUESE." You know, the American words that get said with a foreign accent. For example, "frejwagah" is not a real word, it's not even close to anything that's familiar in either language, meaning "station wagon." Yeah, I know weird,but funny none the less especially to the children of these linguistic artists.  

I have lived all over the country and I no longer look at these funny tidbits as unique . Oh with no doubt it is the above unique in its in own right, but the rest of our country holds the same funny little secrets as well.

When I moved to Indiana I was blown away with sayings, traditions and over all silliness of the culture there. And confused by card games like "euker" from their German /Dutch forefathers to the apple butters and Amish breads and funny terms for country folks "hilljacks." It was a different experience, but not as bizarre as the crazy salty/vinegar/lemony taste I was introduced to in Tucson  when I had "saladitos," which are considered a candy in Mexico. The translation for saladitos is literally "sour plum."

A common way to eat them is to take a few and stuff them into an orange or lemon, sucking the salted juice and allowing the saladito to rehydrate from the juice. Once all the juice is sucked out, you eat the saladitos and discard the pits.

That was given to me as a snack by a co-worker-she loves these. Oh boy, it's as if someone burned my tastebuds off and then scraped the rest and then spread a generous amount of bile to my mouth-BLahhhhh! Then I was informed that Jennifer must be one of a very small group of people that would attempt to eat these by themselves. h

The damage caused by that event didn't scare me, I was back on the search for a new treat and "prickly pear cactus leaves" was it.

The gel-like sap of prickly pears can be used as hair conditioner in Mexico and the Southwest. Its pulp and juice have been used to treat numerous maladies, such as wounds and inflammations of the digestive and urinary tracts. You can go see an old timer medicine person who can prescribe just the right levels and types that will  fix ya right up.

The winner by far, though was discovered  in the great state of Delaware. By far, the strangest and most bizarre to me was "scraple." It is typically made of all the primary important parts of the piggy such as the head, heart, liver and other scraps, which are boiled with any bones attached (often the entire head), to make a broth. Once cooked, bones and fat are discarded, the meat is reserved, and (dry) cornmeal is boiled in the broth to make a mush. The meat, finely minced, is returned to the pot and seasonings, typically sage, thyme, savory, black pepper and others are added. The mush is formed into loaves and allowed to cool thoroughly until set. 

 I look out my Colorado window and it's a cool overcast day and I sit here wondering what yummy treat to bake on a day like today. I decided to go for broke after this blog I am a whirlwind of ideas from all my adopted states as well as where my heart lives, today I will bake a Portuguese-style chicken, a Tucson-style fresh, serrano pepper cornbread and some German-style fried potatoes. If I can move fast enough I might be able to bake an easy peasy Oklahoma pioneer-style peach cobbler (hubby's grandmother's recipe). And yes, I will share them all with you today and all you need is to copy/paste. No car ride, no gas, no rest stops and no moving boxes!

1. Ana's Southwest Cornbread

Ingredients

• 1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 3/4 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies or Serrano's  

Directions

 Place corn in a food processor or blender; cover and process until coarsely chopped. Set aside. In a bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, combine the egg, egg whites, milk and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Add the cheese, chilies and corn.

Pour into a 9-in. square baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm. 

2. Ana's  portuguese style Roasted ChickenA  5 pound chicken washed and whole

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of non spicy paprika 
• half a stick of butter softened 
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon of onion powder
• 1 lemon (juiced)
• half a cup white wine
• 1 bay leaf
• salt to taste
• white pepper to taste

Place chicken in a deep baking dish. In a mixing bowl mix everything else minus the bay leaf well add bayleaf to mixture and with clean hands pour and massage chicken with mixture let sit in fridge covered over night  bake at 350 for about 50 minutes to an hour depending on your oven.

3. Grandmother Avis's Oklahoma pioneer Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 2 cups canned or fresh fruits, with juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour melted butter into a 9-inch square baking dish. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir in milk and almond extract if using; mix only until combined. Pour the batter over the melted butter in the baking dish. Ladle fruit with juice over the top of the batter. Bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes or until batter rises t the top. Serve as is, while still warm, or top with vanilla ice cream.