A fun way to learn more about Portuguese cuisine and food culture is the cooking workshop by Portuguese chef João Quaresma. A fun and educational experience with delicious and easy recipes. Together with the chef we will shop at the local market and then make a traditional lunch with fresh seasonal products.
Who is João Quaresma? Below is his story.
In 2014 you traveled around Europe with a food truck ‘Portugal, love at first bite’. How did you experience that trip?
It was without a doubt one of the most memorable experiences of my life. It was three unforgettable months. In 2014 we traveled through ten countries and visited Paris, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Munich, Berlin, Poznań and so on to give a taste of Portuguese gastronomy to hundreds of people and to tell and tell them about the products and dishes I love so much. I have many fond memories of the Portuguese who are now living in other European cities and countries. With many I still maintain contact.
Portugal has many stories and legends about dishes, tastes, people and regions written down over the centuries. Do you know any such stories?
There are many stories and legends about Portuguese food. The one I highlight here is that of the Alheira, a traditional Portuguese sausage, originally invented by Jews, who had fled from Spain and formed several communities in Portugal in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. One way to escape the Inquisition, which persecuted and killed them, was to feign Catholic rituals and traditions. To deceive the Inquisition, in Trás-os-Montes they invented a sausage made from bread, chicken and olive oil. They resemble a traditional sausage made from pork, but that is forbidden in their culture. Thus was born the Alheira, which has saved so many lives and is a delicious sausage.
How did you become a chef? Was it a childhood dream of yours?
It was not a childhood dream of mine to become a chef, but I grew into it over time. I majored in tourism. When I went to college, I could barely cook, but I had to, and over time I started to like it more and more, and I was lucky enough to share a house with a guy from the North of Portugal who could cook very well and always brought quality products, including Alheiras. From there, my enjoyment of cooking grew. When I started working in tourism, I often visited restaurants and hotels, turismo rural and wanted to know and learn more and more about cooking and restaurant management. In fact I want to create turismo rural and to cook for customers myself. It was never my intention to have a restaurant full time. In 2008 I decided to take a cooking course at Escola de Hotelaria e Turismo in Coimbra and in 2010, when I finished, after an internship in a restaurant in Lisbon - Tasca da Esquina, I created the Chef at Home project. Little by little, I organized private events, gave classes, workshops and advice to small restaurants.
In 2014 I traveled around Europe, through 20 cities, with a food truck to promote Portuguese gastronomy, regional products ánd tourism. From then on, I had more and more invitations to events and started cooking for hotels and small turismo rural locations at specific themed events. This is what I still do. I cook at clients' homes and during themed events, I give training and workshops and I still work in the field of tourism. What I want to do now is a combination of tourism and gastronomy: visiting a market and small producers and holding small-scale workshops. I have an old grocery store and tavern in Lagos da Beira, a village near Oliveira do Hospital, that I like to use for these programs.
What is your greatest memory?
Without a doubt, traveling around Europe to be able to see and understand how Portuguese people, abroad, experience food and the memory of Portugal. Another fond memory as a chef was when I cooked for a group of volunteers in 2017, helping victims of the fires in Oliveira do Hospital. To do something for them with something I love doing myself was a particularly enjoyable experience.
What do you love most about Portugal?
The quality of Portuguese products: fish, bread, olive oil, meat and vegetables due to the great climate, fertile soil, people and sea. I am proud of Portuguese people. We are hospitable and enjoy helping and welcoming people.
What Portuguese habit in daily life do you appreciate the most?
A coffee and a pastel de nata in the morning. It helps to start the day with the right dose of energy and sweetness.
What is your favorite Portuguese dish?
Bacalhau com todos [= boiled cod with cabbage, carrots, potatoes and egg] .
What is the difference between Portugal and other Mediterranean countries?
The people. Their generosity, authenticity and willingness to always welcome and treat the other person as if they were their family.
English (United States) 
Dutch