For lunch today, I went to the Serra d'Estrela Restaurant at the Colombo Mall, the same place I went the first time more than 10 years ago to eat one of my favorite dishes - Arroz do Pato do Forno (Baked Duck and Rice). It's not just the duck, but the whole experience there that makes this meal so special.
First they bring you a basket of breads, a dish of presunto ham, and a bowl of Queijo de Serra, a runny goat milk cheese that even some portuguese find harsh, but that I love. Breaking off morsels of bread, I dip it in the cheese and savor the bitter, salty flavor of this most delectable concoction. Then I take slice of presunto, thin and salty, over-powering my mouth with its salty ham flavor.
While waiting for the duck to arrive from the oven, we asked for an order of Morcela blood sausage, another delicacy of Portugal with a wonderful mix of flavors and texture. And then I made a crucial mistake - the flavors and experience had overcome me and I forgot to take pictures of my Duck Rice with Chorizo slices. But this was indeed the same flavor I had experience over 10 years ago that makes one's mouth water. And finally to top it all off, a dish of Chocolate Mousse as can only be prepared in Portugal. It has a thicker texture than in America, almost like a chocolate cake batter, but thinner with a richer chocolate flavor.
If ever a day were to come where I had to choose a Last Meal, this is what I would ask for, maybe two or three servings even, so that when they through that switch, sausage, rice, duck and chocolate would explode across the room.
Dude, you're slaying me!
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