While visiting my sister in Newport, I took a ride to the city of Fall River, Mass., which is located about 20 minutes away not far from Aquidneck Island, where Newport is located. I had heard a great deal about Fall River and had always wanted to visit. It’s a city of Portuguese immigrants, where the famous celebrity chef, Emeril Lagasse is from originally and where Lizzie Borden may have killed her father and stepmother with a few whacks from an ax. I knew from traveling to Portugal that I would most likely find salt cod, the famous ingredient used in so much of the cooking, and probably tinned seafood. But I actually discovered some really delicious cooking and hope to return again on my next trip.
Overall, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island are home to 467,000 Portuguese residents, and 88,000 of them were born in Portugal. The largest “cluster” in the United States is located in southeastern Massachusetts in the cities of Fall River and New Bedford, Mass.
The history of the Portuguese immigrants in this area is fascinating. New Bedford, a port city only a stone’s throw away from Fall River, was the ‘whaling capital of the world.’ The whaling ships went on voyages lasting 1-1/2 to 3 years and stopped for provisions in the Azores, a territory of Portugal, and initially picked up just cabin boys. But as the industry declined, wages dropped and American men could find better employment elsewhere, ships started leaving New Bedford with a ‘ghost crew’ of just five or six men and they would fill out the crew with 15 or 20 more Azorean men. As fortunes declined in the whaling industry, the textile sector began to boom from the 1870s to the depression era. Although most Portuguese men had no experience in this industry, they chose to stay because economic conditions were better than in Portugal or the islands during this time.
We started our visit with a trip to the Portugalia Marketplace. This is a perfect place to shop for Portuguese delicacies including meats, sausages, and vegetables like inhames from the Azores. They have a very large selection of Portuguese wines from every wine region in Portugal and a selection of canned seafood including tuna and sardines that is second to none. While there, we also picked up the famous pastel de nata, Portuguese egg custard tarts dusted with cinnamon. I’m sorry to say that the delicious linguica and chourico sausages I purchased stayed in my sister’s freezer since I left without taking them home! I had planned to make clams and linguica over fregula, a small couscous-like pasta from Sardinia that I adore, but it will have to wait until my next trip!
My son Luke was particularly fascinated by the sardines since there were so many varieties. Where does the sardine popularity come from? Historically, the Portuguese with the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean have relied heavily on seafood for food and commerce and they are served in just about every possible way in beautiful tin cans with gorgeous designs. I bought one that was tuna with lemon and it was really very delicate and lovely on crackers.
Of course, we couldn’t leave town without visiting one of the many famous restaurants. Before we left for our trip, I perused a list of several restaurants and learned that many happened to be closed on Mondays. Fortunately, TA Restaurant was open. Their menu featured a variety of authentic dishes such as Polvo, Pork Alentejana, and Pudim de Bolacha Maria for dessert. Luke and I decided to try the famous garlic shrimp to start. Served with fluffy rolls of bread and a generous amount of butter, the shrimp came in a garlicky spicy olive oil that was tossed in what tasted like sherry, lemon juice and parsley. Simple and delicious. For our lunch entrée, we both decided we wanted to try the chourico sandwich, which was chopped and fried with peppers and onions and served on the same fluffy rolls. It reminded me a bit of the Italian sausage, pepper and onion sandwiches my mom used to make for 4th of July when I was growing up. Mine was served with a generous helping of fresh vegetables (trying to be semi health conscious), while Luke went for the fried chips. These chips were absolutely addictive and were very similar to what one might find in London with fried fish.
Our trip to Fall River was fascinating and well worth the side trip if you are in the area. Visiting the restaurant was like traveling to Portugal without the flight. Everyone was friendly, the food was wonderful and the chatter in Portuguese made us feel like we were in someone’s home rather than a flourishing café. The weather was not ideal during our trip since it was pouring the whole drive, and we never did get to see the Lizzie Borden House and Bed and Breakfast/Museum that is so famous, but I will get there and look forward to it!
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