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1. Who are you?
We are a small group of friends who search for the best of Portugal to share with our readers. Our photographer is Maria Rebelo; Sergio Rebelo writes the texts; architect Rui Duarte draws the illustrations; and Pedro Teles scouts the restaurants, visiting them regularly to make sure they’re still worthy of our recommendation. We think he has the best palate in Lisbon.
2. What is your site ‘Salt of Portugal’ about?
We write about places to see, food to eat, wine to drink, poetry to read, and whatever else comes to mind. In Salt of Portugal, we want to guide our readers so that every moment spent in Portugal is extraordinary. Salt of Portugal is on Facebook and on Twitter.
3. What is one food tip you would give about Lisbon?
Take a food tour. It is a fun way to get to know Portugal’s culinary traditions and try lots of different dishes. Portugal on a Plate has a great tour of Lisbon’s Madragoa neighborhood.
Also, visit our beautiful food markets. The writer Sophia de Mello Breyner once wrote a set of detailed instructions on how to shop in the Lagos food market in the Algarve. When she finished, she realized that the text read like a poem.
Portuguese cuisine is all about the quality of the ingredients; the fish is so fresh that, given a chance, it might swim back to the ocean. In Lisbon, the Mercado da Ribeira is a great place to visit. It has an area where many famous chefs have stalls so you can try their food. You can have a wonderful lunch there and then go shop in the regular market. Buy some cheese, canned sardines, bread, fruit and a bottle of wine and you can have a wonderful late-afternoon picnic by the river.
4. What is one travel tip you would give about Lisbon?
Travel slowly. So many tourists go from site to site, trying to accumulate tourist points until they go back home feeling exhausted and in need of a vacation. It is better to spend an hour in a beautiful esplanade than the same time rushing from monument to monument. One of our favorite activities is to sit on the esplanade at Ribeira das Naus drinking favaios, an aperitif made of moscatel grapes, watching the Tagus river change its colors as the sun sets.
5. What is the best thing to eat in Lisbon?
It is a pastry called ‘pastel de Belem‘. Only three people know the recipe which was given by friars to the owner of a small pastry shop that opened in Belém in 1837. These pastries are unforgettable.
If you like cheese, do not leave Portugal without trying a great Serra cheese. It is made with sheep’s milk in the remote hills of the Estrela mountain. You can try our favorite Serra at Queijaria (Rua das Flores, 64), a wonderful cheese store in Lisbon.
Christine is a life enthusiast, attracted to happiness, creativity and beauty in everything. It is not because she is French that she loves Fashion but she does. Photographing her food is becoming a habit of hers!
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