Lisbon might feel staunchly Old World European – a sleepy town of nostalgic storefronts and scenic churches – but that’s only its façade. Take a closer look and you’ll discover a city that maintains the deep-rooted links of its former trading empire, one that once connected Macau in the east to Rio de Janeiro in the west. On this Lisbon food tour, over the course of a dozen different stops, we’ll attempt to unravel the complex and cosmopolitan identity of Lisbon and its inhabitants, the Lisboetas, through their food culture. We’ll start by traveling back in time for a taste of the “Age of Exploration,” a golden period when Lisbon became the center of a global empire, awash in power and holding the keys to the spice trade. We’ll search for a taste of those distant roots in the simple offerings of a classic pastry shop beside the 18th-century Estrela Basilica. From there we’ll make our way up to the out-of-the-way Campo de Ourique neighborhood, where our story leaps to contemporary times in this well-preserved “village” in the city. We’ll have a belly-warming shot of ginjinha, a smooth, sour-cherry liqueur that is a traditional local eye-opener, on our way to one of Lisbon’s finest traditional markets. There we will explore the old artisans – fishmongers, butchers, greengrocers, bakers – working alongside more modern, boutique offerings recently added to the market. We will then visit one of the neighborhood’s favorite lunch spots, where we will start our lunch with a variety of traditional seasonal specialties, for example, legume salads, octopus and chickpeas with that Portuguese staple, bacalhau, salt cod. We’ll then head to a hidden-gem neighborhood restaurant upholding their family’s culinary traditions for generations. We’ll visit a private club with a very unique story and that serves a mean vindalho (a meat dish that’s the Portuguese ancestor of Goan vindaloo). Along the way there will also be a tasting of signature Portuguese cheeses and wines. We’ll sample savory pastries at a historic bakery, a spot as beautiful as the pastries are delicious. Finally, no day in Lisbon would be complete without a pastel de nata, the famous local custard tart, with a stop at a tiny neighborhood shop that serves one of the city’s best. By hearing their stories, we’ll locate that sweet spot where past and present, near and far, meet and become deliciously entwined.
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