Taste Portugal 101 Easy Portuguese Recipes

Did not show pictures of all the dishes. Just the obvious stuff. Every recipe should have a picture of what it looks like. Having visited Portugal several times I love the food but forget the names. Pictures would help!

I wanted to love this book . . . I did but I must admit that there are far better Portuguese cookbooks out there. The most significant issue that I have with the book is that the author oversimplifies recipes to the point of making them lackluster. Portuguese cuisine is not particularly overly complex to begin with but what she does in her recipes is strip the cuisine of what makes it special. Another issue is that she takes some Portuguese recipes and mixes them with junk ingredients to transform a good recipe made with natural food to some sort of hybrid mediocre hybrid -- like when she adds cake mix to a flan recipe. Is the end product okay? Sure. Is it Portuguese? No . . . not even a little bit. Another issue is the cost of the book vis-a-vis its production value. The book is printed and sold like a cheap thick pamphlet, which would be fine if it was selling for $15 or so but at $35, one would expect both better printing and better binding. In the end, there are just far better, prettier, more interesting Portuguese cookbooks out there and you would be well-served to check them out.

I have been a fan of Maria's blog for some time and was thrilled to hear about this book. I now have some solid Portuguese recipes in the very robust Kindle reader format.Maria is an excellent cook - and more importantly, communicates that skill and passion quite adroitly. I am a first generation American and am a fair baker myself. I enjoy baking - Portugal has some very savory pastries - and while I have some recipes learned at Vavo's apron, I find Maria's to be quite authentic - and easy to follow. I love her recipes and wholeheartedly endorse them as Vovó approved. Some of us can't make it to the Academic or Antonios. With this cookbook, you bring Fall River to your kitchen.

Thank you! From an American girl married to a Portuguese man :) (also a neighbor since I am in Springfield, MA...)I have been looking for a cookbook with the recipes that I am familiar with from my mother in law. Sadly, my MIL passed away when my kids were small, and because she lived in Portugal, I never learned her culinary secrets (she never wrote anything down she was just a brilliant cook...). The books I did find were just not the same; either they were written in Portuguese, or they were poor English translations.I cannot wait to try so many of these recipes!! They are things my MIL made, as well as dishes that I have had in good Portuguese restaurants.

Love the recipes!

Wanted to love this book, but unfortunately did not. Many things that I wouldn't cook such as rabbit, squid and tripe. Quality of the actual book isn't as good as other Portuguese books. Many recipes dont have pictures. Some steps have missing information.

So excited to make some hometown recipes that I grew up with. Recipes made easy to make and follow!

Thanks

I think there are some great recipes in here, particularly desserts, however there are at least three recipes which are not worthy of the cost of this book - platters and a basic tuna salad. I have read the author's blog which by far exceeds these type of recipes, so I cannot understand why there weren't selected over these. it is also easy to see that the publisher has not employed a copy editor as there are quite a few copy mistakes.But, the reason I gave this an average score is because I wish these silly mistakes and the over-easy recipes were reflected in the price, but that there are a few recipes in here which reminded me of cooking with my mother.

Not quite what I expected. The book is clearly written for a U.S. audience with measurements in cups which is manageable but a little annoying to convert. However some of the ingredients just say 'flour' what type? Or list ingredients as one packet of cake mix, not something I expect to see in a cookery book. Lastly some of the recipes are fun and different but some are just too simple to merit space in a book, even one entitled "easy recipes". For example a totally straightforward omelette, not something I need a specifically Portuguese book to make. There are some good this to try it's just patchy.

I’ve made almost every recipe in this book or it’s at least inspired some fond foods that my Avó made for me! Love it and it’s Portugal Portuguese not Brazilian.

I love the recipes...and have followed Tia Maria's Blog. The only criticism is the quality of paper/pictures for the recipes...could be a little better...but definitely not a huge deal for me as I do love her recipes and the stories behind them. Muito obrigada Maria!

I totally recommend this book. It is to follow, simple steps and familiar everyday recipes. Love it!