Learn to cook two recipes inspired by worldly travels

When I set a travel itinerary, food always is a consideration.

OK, an obsession.

If you need an example, an afternoon in Portugal with my vegetarian wife was devoted to tracking down a village I’d read about that specializes in leitao, roast suckling pig.

Anna and I traveled through Portugal for our first anniversary, and visited the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica for our honeymoon. Food memories linger nearly two decades later.

In Costa Rica, we visited a beachside bar in Playa del Coco and watched small fishing boats unload the day’s catch, men and boys carrying Dorado and other fish through the surf to deposit them in a small refrigerated truck. Sipping a beer, I knew I was watching my next meal or two.

Gallo Pinto, Costa Rica’s take on rice and beans, is served everywhere–at roadside stands, in restaurants tucked among the palms just off gray-sand beaches, and in the towns we visited.

A breakfast at a village collective, where women hand-make and sell tortillas while running a small restaurant, inspired this recipe for Gallo Pinto. The egg topping, with a runny yolk, works at any meal.

By contrast, Portugal is a playground for pig lovers. Black-footed swine, the source for prized Iberico air-cured ham, are raised in both Spain and Portugal.

Legs of the ham, called presunto in Portugal, hang in many small restaurants, like one in the walled town of Obidos, where the proprietor expertly hand-carves thin, translucent slices that explode with flavors of funky, salty, slightly-sugary meat and nutty fat.

Portugal’s Alentejo region is known for seemingly quirky, but absolutely delicious food combinations like pork cooked with local clams.

Pork and Clams Alentejo traditionally is steam-cooked in cataplanas, hinged pots that clamp shut. The use of these special pots dates to the 500-year occupation of the region by the Moors, which ended in 1249.

Hand-hammered copper cataplanas are found all over Alentejo, including markets and shops near Evora’s ancient Roman ruins. To this day, I regret not buying one, since I was saving my cash to stock up on port wine later in Via Nova de Gaia.

Days after returning home, I was tinkering with a recipe for Pork and Clams Alentejo. An enameled Dutch oven, with a heavy lid, still tries to substitute for the cataplana I let slip away.

Gallo Pinto. Photo by Mary Fehr. 

Gallo Pinto
Serves 6-8

• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 1 medium red bell pepper, cored and diced
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Costa Rican Lizano salsa or other hot sauce to taste
• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
• 6-8 eggs
• Corn tortillas, warmed

1. Prepare the black beans. If using dried beans, add the cumin when cooking the beans and reserve the liquid. If using canned beans, simmer contents with cumin and 1/3 cup water or stock for 10 minutes.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to change color. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant.
3. Add cooked black beans and a bit of the liquid to the vegetable mixture. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and salsa/hot sauce. Add cooked rice and stir well, adding enough liquid to coat the rice. Sprinkle with cilantro and remove from heat.
4. Fry eggs sunny-side-up in remaining butter, seasoning with salt and pepper. Warm 1-2 corn tortillas per person.
5. Spoon Gallo Pinto onto a plate or into a bowl. Top with an egg and serve with warm corn tortillas on the side.

Pork and Clams Alentejo. Photo by Mary Fehr. 

Pork and Clams Alentejo
Serves 4-6

• 11/2 cups white wine, preferably Portuguese
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, stemmed and chopped, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 shallot, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon paprika, preferably smoked
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 11/4 pounds pork loin or thick boneless chops, cut into medium-sized cubes
• 11/4 pounds small clams in shell, kept refrigerated and on ice until ready to cook

1. In a large, non-reactive bowl, add wine, 2 tablespoons olive oil, a small handful of parsley, garlic, shallot, paprika, bay leaf, salt, and pepper, stirring well until combined. Add pork and stir until coated. Refrigerate for 4 hours to marinate.
2. Remove pork, reserving marinade. Pat pork pieces dry with a paper towel.
3. Heat remaining olive oil on medium-low heat in a heavy enameled Dutch oven. Fry pork, in batches to avoid overcrowding, until the meat starts to brown. Set aside cooked portions. Repeat until all pork is cooked, and then return reserved pork to Dutch oven.
4. Add reserved marinade and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add clams, stir, and cover the Dutch oven. Cook until clams open, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining chopped parsley.
5. Serve in bowls with plenty of crusty bread to sop up the sauce.

–Photos by Mary Fehr

This story appears in Birmingham magazine’s August 2018 issue. Subscribe today!