DAA Member, Ana Patuleia Ortins Born and raised in Peabody, Massachusetts. In the 1930s, her father Rufino and his family emigrated to the United States from Galveias, a small town in the Alentejo region of Portugal. Rufino shared his culinary talent and passion for Portuguese food with Ana from an early age, showing her how to gut sardines and cut kale for the Caldo Verde soup. His tutelage, coupled with a zest for the traditional dishes inherited from her mother Filomena, who died when Ana was young, inspired her to learn as much as she could about her culinary roots and to document the recipes of Portuguese immigrants in her first book Portuguese Homestyle Cooking.

Portuguese Home Cooking by Ana Ortins

With warmth and gusto, Ana Patuleia Ortins shares garden-fresh salads, hearty wine and garlic braises, legumes and leafy greens, meat and shellfish dishes, rustic breads, and the luscious desserts for which Portugal is known. Beautiful food and location photography will transport you to Portugal’s picturesque countryside, and novices and experienced chefs alike will delight in the culture and cuisine, whether nostalgic for home, or discovering it for the first time.

This Portuguese cookbook goes deeper and wider into the array of real home recipes of Portuguese cooks across the sea and Portuguese immigrants in the United States, recipes that incorporate the flavors of the Mediterranean.  Authentic Portuguese Cooking is meant to compliment Portuguese Homestyle Cooking, my first Portuguese cookbook of iconic Portuguese recipes, by showcasing the lesser known but still authentic dishes that are also very popular in the Portuguese culture. 

Lisbon and Porto (known as Oporto in English) are the two largest cities in Portugal. Porto is one of the major urban areas of Southwestern Europe. There are endless places to visit in Portugal, from the coast to the Spanish border and the wonderful Azore Islands and Madeira.  Don’t worry if you don’t speak Portuguese, the local people are friendly and many know some English.