Quero um pastel de nata. Translation: I want a pastel de nata. That’s an egg custard tart I consumed, uh, several times, on our recent trip to Madeira and São Miguel, Azores. Pastel de nata has the right amount of sweetness and creamy texture, plus the crisp pastry flakes in your mouth. The photo above has two pastel de natas along with another delicious pastry stuffed with apples. After my last post, subscribers wrote they wanted to read about the food of those two islands. So, why not start with dessert?

What else did our family eat on our recent trip? Seafood and lots of seafood, which makes sense since we were on two Portuguese islands. Plus, whatever was grown there, such as passion fruit and pineapple. 

We ate in a restaurant for all but one of our meals, thanks to the culinary talents of Brian and Julia one night in our rental. We took our time eating and chatting. Afterall, we were on vacation. 

Here are some highlights:

EXOTIC FRUITS: I developed a new interest in pineapple, even on pizza. I admit shaking my head when people ordered pineapple on pizza in the U.S. But it worked in the Azores, where I ate it for the first time. Of course, the pineapple was grown locally. In the photo above, that’s me standing in a pineapple plantation’s greenhouse in Ponta Delgado, São Miguel. I learned later from a childhood friend the plantation was owned by her late husband’s family. 

We had pineapple on hamburgers and as a side dish. The best was pineapple cake — twice. There were other exotic fruits such as bananas, oranges, and passion fruit. The passion fruit mousse served in a restaurant in Funchal, Madeira was outstanding, as was the mixture of orange and passion fruit juice. 

FISH: We encountered a new one: black scabbard fish, deep sea creatures found in the Atlantic between latitudes 69 N and 27 N. It appeared to be a go-to fish for most restaurants although there were options such as tuna and sea bass. Then there were prawns. I admit having to take a break from fish and shellfish after eating it twice a day for seven days straight.

NIGHT OUT: Brian, who accompanied our family, treated us to an elegant meal out at Avista in Funchal, Madeira run by prestigious chef Benoît Sinthon (Il Gallo d’Oro, two Michelin Stars). Service was excellent, as was the food. Ingredients were from the island. Yes, I opted for a fish dish. We shared the appetizers, which included steak tartare, and desserts.

INSTRUCTIONAL MEAL: We had a seven-course meal and an instructional experience at Azores Essentials, where our daughter Emily ate on a previous visit. The building is an historic thermal bathhouse — Furnas is filled with natural hot springs. The evening was described as a gastronomic cultural experiences Azorean style accompanied by the appropriate wine. Ninety-five percent of the ingredients were local. The best part was Rich’s entertaining demonstrations about green tea, the local waters, and how each course was expertly prepared by Paula Aguiar. The posole and artichokes were cooked geothermally. (Alas, the restaurant doesn’t have a restroom, so we had to walk to a public restroom in a nearby parking lot or a bar, part of the experience.)

HOT LAVA ROCK: The last dinner on São Miguel was an interesting one at A Quinta in Furnas, which was essentially open-air seating beneath a large roofed structure. My son Zack and I shared a steak cooked over a hot lava stone. The meat came sizzling to the table. We flipped it on the stone to the raw side, slicing it into pieces and then cooking each one to what we wanted.

WINE: Lots and lots of it with meals. 

Next post I will tell you about São Miguel.