Feijão Frade, Ovos Verdes and Chouriço de Alter do Chão. Foto de Filipe Gill

As I walk through the door of his house, Luís warns me: Isto é comida de pobre – this is poor man’s food. I have heard it so many times before; it’s in his nature to downplay the quality of the food he makes.

As we seat down for a mid-week lunch, I glance at the table and see two very important things: a bottle of wine and beautiful olive oil from his native Beira Baixa. It is a good start and an indicator of things to come.

He is right in a way: this is the peasant food of yesteryear. But today this is pure luxury: superior ingredients cooked in a way that enhances quality, honours history, and respects the environment. Three in one!

Let’s begin with the star of the meal. Humble Feijão Frade (black-eyed peas). But these are no ordinary beans: grown in “sequeiro” (meaning with no added water, thus concentrating more the flavour). Luís regularly goes to Castelo Branco – the capital city of Beira Baixa, some 250km northeast of Lisbon – especially to buy some key ingredients for the family diet: fruit, vegetables, pulses, mainly beans and chickpeas, olive oil, bread, and ‘farinheiras’. I think he does it for two reasons: first: it is a way to keep him connected with his family roots; second, because he knows these ingredients are better than supermarket-bought stuff. And I forgot a third reason: because it tastes much better.

The beans are soaked in cold water overnight, and cooked in the pressure cooker.

On this meal we had the perfect companions for the beans:

Ovos Verdes (hard boiled eggs, stuffed, breaded and fried), a typical snack of southern Fundão;

Chouriço de Alter (from the town in Alentejo famous for it’s horses) bolied in water and sliced in nice chunks;

Toucinho de porco ‘Bísaro’. Bacon fried to crispy status. But this is salt-dried toucinho; no chemical processing involved. More on ‘Porco Bísaro’ in a future article.

The beans were served with a refreshing mixture of red onion and parsley and topped with beautiful, fruity olive oil from Fundão. (see pictures below).

The wine was just right for this meal: Mula Velha Tinto from Quinta do Gradil in Cadaval, some 50km north of Lisbon. ‘Mula Velha’ means ‘Old Mule’ and it also refers to a Portuguese expression meaning someone wise and experienced.

Luís is, in essence, a Gastronauta. Because he brings a moral dimension to his food. If only for that he deserves my respect.

Luís Barata Dias is also a patient teacher and a keen photographer. He will tell you his photography is no good. Just like his food. But again, I have to disagree with him.

A modest Gastronauta

O Senhor Júlio

Eu tenho dois amores