The Bookshelf: The New Portuguese Table (and bonus recipe!)

by jbfauthor on March 17, 2010

Did you know that Portuguese cooking inspired Manhattan clam chowder? Or that the signing of the Declaration of Independence was toasted with glasses of Madeira? While historically overshadowed by Europe’s major cuisines, the food of Portugal is rich in history and surprisingly influential, and with the recent release of David Leite’s The New Portuguese Table, it may finally start to get a little respect. Leite, who has a trio of Beard Awards for his writing, discussed the new cookbook and the state of Portuguese cuisine at last week’s Beard on Books. A first-generation Portuguese-American who grew up in the Portuguese ghetto of Fall River, Massachusetts, Leite spent his youth at a distance from his lonely heritage. But after his grandmother passed away—taking a memory vault of recipes with her—the author embarked on an

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