The New Portuguese Table

Starred review from April 20, 2009
This is the perfect cookbook for lovers of salt cod, and it just might be the perfect cookbook for those who dislike the mild, Atlantic fish. Leite, a three-time James Beard–award winner and proprietor of the Web site LeitesCulinaria.com, offers a wealth of recipes for the brackish dried fish, including a traditional version of pastéis de bacalhau
(salt cod fritters). But cod is but one of the amaazing dishes offered here. By highlighting the eclectic ingredients and modern techniques that define the country today, Leite brings the often-overlooked foods of Portugal center stage. This fully illustrated book begins with an extensive glossary of Portuguese staples, plus a port primer and an introduction to Madeira, and ends with a chapter devoted to workhorse sundries such as fiery piri-piri paste and smoked paprika oil. Along the way home cooks are introduced to a delectable jumble of dishes that range from classic to contemporary. A comforting adaptation of the fabled stone soup is enlivened with spicy chouriço
sausage; simple-yet-elegant duck breasts are sauced with white port and black olives; and a dip made with anchovies, green olives, cilantro, and whole milk is surprisingly harmonious. The desserts are comparatively docile—molasses cookies, baked custard tarts—but the recipe variation for fatias douradas
(Portuguese sweet bread French toast) is truly over-the-top.

May 15, 2009
If your finances don't permit a trip abroad this year, perhaps this cookbook will provide some comfortthough it might just reinforce your urge to hit the sunny beaches of the Algarve. Leite, a noted Portuguese American food writer and publisher of the James Beard Award-winning web site Leite's Culinaria (www.leitesculinaria.com), begins by outlining Portugal's diverse regional cuisines and then describes traditional ingredients. From there it is a straightforward listing of appetizers, soups, fish, meat, poultry, vegetable/egg/rice dishes, breads, sweets, liqueurs, and condiments, with approximately 150 recipes overall. Each recipe begins with a paragraph relating its background, which adds to the book's homey feel. The recipes, many inspired by Leite's memories of his grandmother's cooking, are designed for the home cook and generally don't require exotic ingredients, although a supplier for salt cod may be necessary. A list of sources is provided for the few hard-to-find items, and color photos add to the presentation. Full of delicious-sounding recipes, this title is sure to appeal to adventurous cooks wanting to try a new ethnic cuisine and will also be popular with Portuguese American communities.Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2009
Given the current ascendancy of Spanish cuisine on the world stage, its not surprising that the Iberian peninsulas other occupant should reinvent its cooking for a new generation and an international audience. Although not actually bordering the Mediterranean, Portugals cooking shares many of the characteristics of Mediterranean cooking, presently lauded as an exceptionally tasty route to sound nutrition. Preferring fresh, seasonal ingredients, Leite lightens traditional Portuguese cooking, but he still reaches for the indigenous spicy smoked pork sausage, linguica. Soups play a prominent role, both chilled and hot, one containing great quantities of purslane. Portugal reconstructs Italys ravioli, stuffing pasta squares with a pork and cheese puree. Leite offers a refined version of Portugals classic salt cod that he believes even finicky children will relish. Lowly rice pudding gets a noble makeover, its unctuous sweetness made even richer by sandwiching it between layers of puff pastry.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)