Cellar Tastings

In Portuguese cooking, like in Spanish cooking, the use of eggs in desserts is extensive. Winemaking in the Iberian Peninsula stretches back millennia, but it was the emergence of Christianity that really affected Portuguese desserts, as we know them today. Monks made wine and clarified it with egg whites. The yolks were given to the nuns in the village who used them in sweet dishes, in fact often with wine. Many desserts were named after the nuns and today there are some comically named Portuguese desserts such as "Toucinho do Céu" - heaven's lard, or "Barriga de Freiras" - nun's belly.


Egg puddings are essentially Flan (like in Spain and Mexico). The Portuguese, like the other southern Europeans have a sweet tooth. According to some Portuguese culinary experts, there are over two hundred unique Portuguese desserts! This is in a country with a population ¼ th the size of California! There are all manner of extra sweet desserts available in the historic cafes all over Portugal. Typical desserts include: “Queijadas de Nata” (Cream Tartlets), "Palha Abrantes" (golden thin strings of egg yolk based paste), “Pudim de Pão” (Portuguese Bread Pudding), “Arroz Doce” (Sweet rice heavy on the sugar and cinnamon), "Ovos Moles" (egg paste pastries with grated walnut from Aveiro), the famous "Pastéis de Nata" from Belém, and last but not least, the Marzipan from the Algarve. Try this egg pudding with Vintage Port, a match made in heaven.

Ingredients

• 15 Egg Yolks
• 600 grams Sugar
• 1 Fresh Pineapple
• 1 glass sweet Liqueur (Pedro Ximenez, for example)
• 8 ounces (2 dl) Port Wine (Ruby Port will do)
• Powdered cinnamon for sprinkling
• Cinnamon sticks for garnish
• Strawberry slices for garnish
• Chopped Almonds for garnish.

Preparation

Mix the egg yolks with the liqueur. Boil 400 grams of sugar in 2 dl (8 ounces) of water for 4 minutes. Keep the cooker on reduced heat and add the egg yolk mixture. In a small separate pot, boil 200 grams of sugar with a little water until it forms a thin caramel. Coat the inside of a pudding tin with this hot caramel, cool and add the first egg and sugar mixture. Place the pudding on a tray with sufficient water to cover the tin halfway. Bake at 150 degrees Celsius (300 F) in a preheated oven for 45 minutes. Cool. Meanwhile, peel and slice the pineapple and place in a deep bowel. Cover the pineapple with Port wine and leave to soak for 2 hours. Empty the formed puddings onto the dish and place on a serving dish. Pour and liquid caramel from the tin over the puddings. Surround the formed puddings with the soaked pineapple pieces. Sprinkle with cinnamon and garnish with cinnamon sticks and chopped almonds and strawberry slices.

Try this dessert with: Old Vintage Port

Vintage Port is truly precious. After spending two years in contact with wood, it then ages slowly in bottle away from air and light. Little by little, the characteristics of the wine develop considerably and it acquires its bouquet. The label, in addition to indicating the year in which it was made, must indicate the year in which it was bottled. This category includes the “Quinta” Vintages which are wines made from the grapes grown solely on the estate whose name they bear on the label. Top class wineries producing smashing Vintage Ports include: Ramos Pinto, Fonseca, Taylor Fladgate, Grahams, Dows, Churchills, and Rozes.

Recipe and Wine Info courtesy of Hélio Loureiro, from this famous chef’s book “Recipes to Accompany Port Wine”, edited by the Instituto do Vinho do Porto.