The SouthCoast simply wrapped up its festa season, however the celebration of Portuguese tradition and delicacies continues with a spotlight by a well known journey journal.
Fall River and New Bedford— particularly the Portuguese community — garnered some well-deserved reward not too long ago from Condé Nast Traveler in its collection 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-about the tenth island of the Azores attributable to its ethnic make-up wherein 46% of town’s inhabitants claims Portuguese ancestry.
What Condé Nast Traveler stated about SouthCoast feasts
In his journey by means of Spindle City and past, the author heaps reward on our native competition 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 embellished the streets for his or her procession and prepped open-fire grills to cook dinner up scrumptious Portuguese marinated meats – with shoutouts to feast staples similar to bifanas, grilled chouriço, stewed fava beans, caçoila and the a lot sought-after malassada treats.
He additionally highlighted the various native Portuguese festivals, together with the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament in New Bedford, which has been celebrated for over a century. This occasion attracts lots of of hundreds of tourists to the realm to expertise the colourful tradition, scrumptious meals, and vigorous festivities of Madeira.
SouthCoast Portuguese meals scene: From Portugalia to Café Europa
His tour additionally included a cease at Portugalia Marketplace on Bedford Street, which, in fact, 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 prospects from nicely past southeastern Massachusetts and outdoors 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 can be “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 provides 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.
It famous that Lagasse additionally researched the Portuguese delicacies at Café Europa in New Bedford in preparation for the opening of his new New Orleans restaurant. Where Tavares informed readers, “With a little luck, you’ll find grilled octopus on the daily special menu.”
Praise was seen for Antonio’s in New Bedford for serving beneficiant parts of their pork Alentejana, which consists of sautéed pork, fried potatoes, and littlenecks. It is claimed that the dish is massive sufficient to feed two folks.
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.