Category: Cooking
A plan is a plan until Volker from SY Hexe sends you a WhatsApp! If I fancy to join a wine tasting? No brainer, for sure. Half an hour later we went together with Ulrike, our local guide living in Arrecife – obviously with some sailing background.
We ended up at Bodega Guiguan in the village of Tajaste and tasted its five different wines in the backyard of this family run vineyard, established in 1948.
The quality of the wines is very good, much better compared to the tasting I did on Madeira. As you can imagine it is hard to make quality red wines in this climate and soil conditions but the dry white wine made from volcanic Malvasia grape and the sweet Moscatel dessert wine put a heavy spell on me from the first zip onwards.
Ended up with some more bottles stored onboard now waiting for Susan’s arrival mid December to pamper our tongues over a good meal.
Fair winds…
Cooked tonight one of my favourite local dishes originated from Madeira: “Espada com banana” (black scabbard fish with banana) accompanied by some local sweet potatoes and vegetables. First I was suspicious about the combination of banana with fish but…very yummy! 😋
Fair winds…
My hike today ended in the restaurante “O Lager Antiguidades”, which means “The antique wine press”. Besides local wine they serve Espetadas, freshly grilled over a fireplace. Three options: beef, pork or chicken. They are served with sweet potato or salad but I think sweet potato is more traditional here in Madeira. After the hike I felt more attracted by a beer rather than trying the local wine. Afterwards, it was a hard 500m walk to the bus station but luckily all downhill.
Fair winds…
I was told that you can get the best Francesinha dish in this tiny local restaurant called “A Francesinha”, which is only a short ride from the marina. The atmosphere is nice and the food lived up to my expectations but the short bike ride will not compensate for the additional calories consumed.
Fair winds…
After a long day of boating & biking work 😂 I went to Pub Number Two for the best Prego in town, I was told. Second time I am there as I tend to agree that the Prego here is very delicious. Took the freshly polished bike to enjoy a short smooth running climb and downhill with a drivetrain having almost no friction at all.
The bike is ready for another trip.
Fair winds…
Port wine originates from Porto, Sherry from Spain and Madeira from Madeira. Three different fortified wine products with different names. This and a lot more we learned during a Port wine tasting today along the old lodges of River Douro, the place where it all started in the year 1756! Arranged by the Douro Marina, we enjoyed good accompany from Kate from Churchills Ports, who took us through the whole program. After 2.5 hours and lightly tipsy we placed our order and proceeded with strolling through this lovely city…
Dear all,
the fisherman moored at around 9am and we were a queue of about 10 customers. He did not catch too much and restricted first in the queue from buying the whole catch of the day with the argument that he needs to distribute among all of us! 😅
I was fourth in the row and got a turbot, which was my preference, right size for one person. As the fish was the main part of the dish I opted for baking it in the oven together with some sweet potatoes and bell pepper vegetables. There was some cod, herring and plaices but turbot is a noble fish with a slightly sweet and nutty taste. It was delicious.
Fair winds…
Bernd
Dear all,
I called the pizza service at my doorstep (Kanalschuppen Flensburg) and was told to wait for 90 minutes to get my dinner – long queue…good for them!
Decided to make my own dish: Tuna Tikka Marsala Pasta 😋
Fair winds…
Bernd