Celebrate the love of Portuguese food at the Fall River Public Library

For Milena Rodrigues, growing up Portuguese meant eating a lot of homemade, hearty meals prepared lovingly by her mother. Ms. Rodrigues celebrates the art of simple but satisfying home cooking in her book For the Love of Portuguese Food, which she will discuss on Thursday, October 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Fall River Public Library.

“My favorite chef is not a chef, but a wonderful home cook, and that is my mom,” Ms. Rodrigues said in a recent interview. “I am a big fan of homemade food and my mother always made sure we had a delicious, hearty homemade meal on the table.  I was lucky to grow up eating her wonderful soups, stews, seafood dishes and desserts.”

As an adult with her own family to feed, Ms. Rodrigues wanted to recreate the wonderful meals she grew up with, but found that relatively few Portuguese cookbooks written in English were available. Her cookbook is geared for Luso descendants, like her, who want to serve the traditional favorites their mothers and grandmothers prepared, often without formal recipes.

Some of Ms. Rodrigues’s own favorites, included in the book, are Grilled Sardines (Sardinhas Assadas), Salted Cod Gomes de Sá Style (Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá), and Cannellini Bean Stew (Feijoada).  Also included are simple favorites like Pork Sandwiches (Bifanas) and Portuguese Green Soup (Calde Verde), flavorful seafood dishes like Shrimp Mozambique (Camarão à Mozambique), and sweet delights like Portuguese Style French Toast (Fatias Douradas) and Sweet Rice (Arroz Doce).

Copies of For the Love of Portuguese Food will be available for purchase and signing at the event, which is free and open to the public. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Fall River Public Library.

For questions about this event, call Kate Kulpa at 508-324-2700, ext. 110.