Chef Eckart Witzigmann !

One of the legendary 20th Century Chefs, he received the rare award chef of the century from the Gault Millau guide. Only three other chefs have been awarded this title:Paul Bocuse, Joël Robuchon and Frédy Girardet., Witzigman was in Vila Joya inspiring us all with his art.

I am very proud to say that he really liked my mushroom crackers and the way I cook and present my square fried eggs.
There you go, I had to say it, sorry for bragging , but that's the way it is...

Thank you, Grand Chef !

Aquarela do Brasil

nothing to do with breakfast but in a way, it can get you in a good morning mood... enjoy before breakfast...

Notícias Sic Online, Tribute to Claudia

Publicação: 15-01-2007 18:03 | Última actualização: 15-01-2007 18:15 SIC Nigel Haworth Cozinha de luxo Festival gastronómico de chefes com estrelas “Michelin”

Durante uma semana, um pequeno hotel de luxo, em Albufeira, vai receber alguns dos melhores chefes europeus para uma semana gastronómica inédita em Portugal. Todos os dias, um cozinheiro diferente, com as prestigiadas estrelas “Michelin” no currículo, vai preparar o jantar. SIC Ao início da tarde, ainda não era visível na cozinha nenhum daqueles pratos de fazer crescer água na boca, mas já duas estrelas partilhavam as bancadas e a fama de serem chefes de lugares recomendados pelo prestigiado guia “Michelin”. Um é Dieter Koshina, o anfitrião, há 17 anos cozinheiro do Vila Joya; o outro, Nigel Haworth, dono de um dos mais famosos restaurantes do nordeste de Inglaterra. Nigel preparou um molho de camarões, que vai usar, esta noite, para fazer a ligação entre o marisco tão abundante no Algarve e a sua ementa, baseada em produtos da terra ou de zonas muito específicas de Inglaterra. Além de Nigel, por esta cozinha, com duas estrelas, a mais bem reputada em Portugal entre os “Gourmet Michelin”, vão passar nos próximos seis dias, seis outros chefes da haute cousine europeia. Entre eles os lendários Marc Meneu, da França, e Dieter Muller, da Alemanha, uma espécie de sumidades, cada um com o máximo da pontuação, três estrelas “Michelin”. Uma experiência única em Portugal, conseguida graças á perseverança do chefe da casa. Esta semana gastronómica de luxo marca o 25º aniversário do hotel, uma unidade com apenas 20 quartos, mas considerada um dos melhores resorts boutique do mundo. Durante o festival gourmet, os clientes não vão apenas provar, mas também ver a confecção dos pratos, através de câmaras espalhadas pela cozinha e ecrãs nas salas principais. Apesar dos preços rondarem os 120 a 170 euros por pessoa, sem bebidas incluídas, a sala já está praticamente esgotada para toda a semana. Link para video aqui em SapoXL

A Chef's Applause

The Chef's Creation !

Just Joking

Chef Dieter Müller on Tribute to Claudia,

The 19 of January surprise was the famous Chef Dieter Müller.
Amazing dishes and creations from him were seen and tasted by us all in Vila Joya on last Friday the 19th of January, when the Tribute to Claudia's festival o Chefs was held in Hotel Vila Joya.

Here I go again !

Starting again on the 12 th of this month, I finish these fabulous holidays of mine, when I took time to rest and to be with my family.

I am so ready to start again, that I can feel it in my bones already.
I know that it is tiring and long hours, but I love it, I truly do.
I hope that I learn more and more.
I am starting on a week where great Chefs from all Europe are coming to my work place and show us all good things.

So, here I come ... World of Breakfast and Cooking!

the place !

I wish...

Photo by Christopher Gilbert
I wish that 2007 makes us all know, around this planet, that we are all made with the same water and now in small ice cubes we stand. And after we all melt, the pond will be made from all of us, so I wish that we start behaving as we do know it for sure.
Wake up!

coffee !

Photo by Christopher Gilbert
Coffee is a must for us, Portuguese, on the expresso form, we need it to start our day.
Queues at cafes before they open is quite common, mainly in the big cities.
Our coffee mix is arabica and robusta, it has to be strong, not mild as the americans, the english or german versions ( ... dish washing water).
'Bica'; 'Abatanado'; 'Cortado'; 'Pingado'; 'Curto'; 'Italiana'; 'Garoto'; 'Cimbalino'; 'com cheirinho' just to name a few forms of asking for one expresso.
Delta cafés is one of our best ones.
Our 'Pastéis de nata' go so well with our coffee !

Merry Christmas

I have been very lazy about my writings here. The reason is that I am on holidays.
Thus, I wish All readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

Kids in Portugal do not have proper Breakfasts

I believe that our children should have better breakfasts before they go to schooll, and the idea that i get from my sons is that their collegues have little or no breakfast at all, and then, at lunch, they eat as much as they can.
This makes the morning classes very poor, because I believe that no one is paying attention.

• Why can't the polititians initiate educational events regarding this subject?
• And why not make the breakfast for children in schools, to make sure that they all eat well?
• If a child does not have a full proper breakfast , how can he or she learn properly?

Comments on this please!...

Fruit Buffet display

I would like to change the classical appearance of the breakfast fruit buffet that we have, so, I am asking all of you if you, please, could give me a hand here, with fresher ideas, with pictures, technics, descriptions, or whatever you think that could be good for this matter.

No príncipio

Foi no principio que trabalhei na Vila Joya com o Chef Miguel e o Chef Mateo, que trabalha agora no Hangar 7 , restaurante prestigiado Europeu.
Aui estamos os 3 numa foto na zona de Garde Manget, chamado de Cozinha 'fria', onde então eu trabalhava.

Vila Joya meets Egon Schiele

In Hotel Vila Joya you can see, from October 6th 2006, sixty four rare reproductions of Austria´s expressionist artist Egon Schiele from Prof. Leopold Collection in Vienna Austria.

Visiting Quinta do Crasto

Well, not that one should drink wine for breakfast, thow, in early years, we did have the habit of eating 'Sopas de cavalo cansado' (Tired Horse soups) , made with country side bread bits and red wine, before going to work in the fields.
Those days are mostly gone, nowadays, breakfast means something else for the hard working ones. But wine still remains a beverage to be had at the main meals, at least in Portugal, where wine is considered, more and more, a exceptional beverage.
Quinta do Crasto, where world renown wines are produced and considered amongst the best in this wineyard Planet.
I am fortunate enough to be paying a visit to this Quinta do Crasto and to take a glimpse of how and where quality is produced in my beloved Portugal.
know more in Rei Vinho, my newest blog

Mimolette Cheese

From Wikipedia:

Mimolette is a cheese traditionally produced around the city of Lille in northern France (where it is also known as Boule de Lille), and also in some areas of Belgium and the Netherlands (where it is also known as vieux Hollande).

A cow's-milk cheese, it normally weighs about 2 kg (approximately 4.5 pounds). Its name comes from "mollet". When young its crust is supple, but with age it becomes harder. It has a grey crust and orangish flesh. The orange color comes from the natural colorant Achiote.

The greyish crust of aged Mimolette is the result of cheese mites intentionally introduced to add flavor by their action on the surface of the cheese.

Mimolette can be consumed at different stages of ageing. Most cheese-lovers appreciate it most when "extra-old" (extra-vieille). At that point, it can become rather hard to chew, and the flesh takes a delicious hazelnut-like flavour.

Pastéis de nata, info

(the picture above is not from 'Pasteis de Belém' , but only from normal 'Pastéis de Nata')

From the site pasteis de belem :

"The Taste of Tradition

At the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, in Belém, next to the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (the Heironymite Monastery) there was a sugar cane refinery linked to a small general store.
As a result of the liberal revolution of 1820, all convents and monasteries in Portugal were shut down in 1834, the clergy and labourers expelled.

In an attempt at survival, someone from the monastery offered sweet pastries for sale in the shop; pastries that rapidly became known as 'Pasteis de Belém'.

At that period the area of Belém was still far from the city of Lisbon and could be reached by steam-boats. At the same time, the grandeur of the monastery and the Torre de Belém (the Belém Tower) attracted visitors who soon grew used to savouring the delicious pastries originated in the monastery.

In 1837, the baking of the 'Pasteis de Belém' was begun in buildings joined to the refinery, following the ancient 'secret recipe' from the monastery. Passed on and known exclusively to the master confectioners who hand-crafted the pastries in the 'secrets room', this recipe remained unchanged to the present day.
In fact, the only true 'Pasteis de Belém' contrive, by means of a scrupulous selection of ingredients, to offer even today the flavour of the ancient portuguese confectionary industry."

Recipe for Pastéis de Nata will be released soon, when I perfect the one I have now.
I know that it can be done better. Maybe almost as good as the famous Pastéis de Belém

Queijo da Serra

from the wikipedia:

Serra da Estrela is a cheese from the region of Serra da Estrela, in Portugal. It is one of the most famous, not only in Portugal but also among appraiser all over the world. Its production has very rigorous rules and its delimited region is in the subdivision of the municipalities of Nelas, Mangualde, Celorico da Beira, Tondela, Gouveia, Penalva do Castelo, Fornos de Algodres, Carregal do Sal, etc. It is made of sheep milk, mostly during the months of November to March. Its maturation period has specific norms and must last thirty days at least. According to its maturation it becomes creamy pouring out or thicker. It is a cured cheese from artisan work with half-soft paste, creamy, white or slightly yellow, uniform (without holes or just a few) obtained from slow draining of curdled-milk, after raw sheep milk coagulation, with Cynara cadunculus thistle. The shape is a low cylinder with side camber and a little in the upper face, not having precise tacks. It shows a soft well formed rind, smooth and thin, with an uniform straw-yellow colour. Its scent is intense and the savour reveals a soft, clean "bouquet" lightly acidulous.