The SouthCoast simply wrapped up its festa season, however the celebration of Portuguese tradition and delicacies continues with a spotlight by a widely known journey journal.
Fall River — particularly its Portuguese community — garnered some well-deserved reward lately from Condé Nast Traveler in its sequence dubbed A Place on the Table, which highlights “diasporic enclaves around the world through their cuisines.”
An Aug. 15 article shared this previous weekend via Instagram explores the culinary traditions of the Portuguese community in Southern Massachusetts, “a hub of festas, food, and family.”
CN Traveler author Nathan Tavares — who was born in Fall River and grew up in Somerset — factors out that Fall River, which he describes as a “small city of about 94,000 people,” is jokingly thought of the tenth island of the Azores resulting from its ethnic make-up through which 46% of the town’s inhabitants claims Portuguese ancestry.
What Condé Nast Traveler stated about Fall River feasts
In his journey by way of Spindle City and past, the author heaps reward on our native pageant favorites, and a handful of eating places and markets in Fall River’s “close-knit diaspora community.”
“It’s easy to wander through the area’s Portuguese bakeries, markets, and restaurants without hearing a stitch of English,” the article notes.
The author’s travels started on the annual St. Michael’s Parish feast in Fall River, as volunteers adorned the streets for his or her procession and prepped open-fire grills to prepare dinner up scrumptious Portuguese marinated meats – with shoutouts to feast staples reminiscent of bifanas, grilled chouriço, stewed fava beans, caçoila and the a lot sought-after malassada treats.
Tavares additionally took notice of different Portuguese cultural gatherings within the area — reminiscent of this previous weekend’s Great Feast of the Holy Ghost at Fall River’s Kennedy Park and the Madeira Feast in New Bedford.
Fall River Portuguese meals scene: From Portugalia to the Clipper
His tour additionally included a cease at Portugalia Marketplace on Bedford Street, which, after all, included a spotlight on its “white-tiled, gleaming temperature-controlled room brimming with salt cod.”
The author spoke with proprietor Michael Benevides about efforts to bridge the hole between Fall River’s Portuguese previous and current, which has helped draw clients from nicely past Fall River and out of doors the Portuguese community.
One iconic Fall River construction additionally acquired a Condé Nast nod, in addition to the thriving Luso meals scene in cities large and small which are “revisiting traditional flavors with a modern lens.”
“There are landmarks like Fall River’s City Gates Plaza, which features a monument that mimics the medieval triple gates in the capital of the Azores, but always there are places to taste this heritage, for the homesick and those entirely new to the cuisine,” the article reads.
For these impressed to take a Portuguese meals tour, the article factors readers to The Clipper on South Main Street, which “serves a stellar shrimp Mozambique.”
It additionally offers nod to some native eating places Fall River-born movie star chef Emeril Lagasse dined at during his April 2024 trip to the SouthCoast: Sagres Restaurant on Columbia Street, a “comforting yet upscale restaurant in the heart of the city” that’s a go-to for conventional Portuguese steak, in addition to New Bedford’s Café Europa. The pork alentejana at Antonio’s in New Bedford additionally made the checklist.
Portugalia and Chaves Market are additionally amongst their must-try Fall River spots.
Condé Nast Traveler shares the candy facet of Fall River: malassadas
Condé Nast Traveler is a way of life and journey journal focusing on luxurious and high-end experiences worldwide from Paris to Peru. But this isn’t the primary time Fall River and Portuguese delicacies has appeared in its pages.
Fall River was spotlighted in an article on the 50 best desserts in all 50 states. For Massachusetts, Tavares, who’s a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, contributed an ode to malassadas, saying they seem to be a staple of Portuguese festas however giving a particular shoutout to Barcelos bakery on Bedford Street.
“Grab a few napkins, yes, but know that the mustache of sugar is inevitable and a little mess is more than worth it for the bliss of devouring the still-warm yeasted dough brightened by a bit of lemon zest,” he writes.