Tracing the Roots of an Imperial Cuisine – New Trip Page Testing Post

Day 1

Welcome to Lisbon!

As travelers arrive, we’ll gather at our hotel for a welcome drink and begin getting to know our guides.

Afterward, we’ll take to the water: we will view the city on a chartered cruise to understand the geography and program on for the week in front of us and will then ferry us to a delicious al fresco dinner with a panoramic view of the city.

Day 2

A Culinary Crossroads, Explored

We’ll start the day by awakening our senses at a classic pastry shop beside the 18th-century Estrela Basilica. As we munch, we’ll be transported back in time, to the era when Lisbon was at the epicenter of the spice trade.

From there, we’ll journey off the beaten path—and to the present day—in the Campo de Ourique neighborhood, a “city within a city.” Here, we’ll learn about some of Lisbon’s hidden history, such as plots to subvert the Salazar dictatorship that dominated the country in the 20th century.

On our way to one of Lisbon’s finest traditional markets, we’ll also enjoy a belly-warming shot of ginjinha, a local liqueur made from alcohol-soaked sour cherries. Once we arrive, we’ll visit fishmongers, butchers, greengrocers, and bakers. We’ll descend into a bookseller’s secret basement, which stocked contraband literature during the dictatorship.

At lunch time, we’ll nibble our way around the neighborhood. First, we’ll try a few traditional seasonal specialties, and then we’ll move along to a hidden gem that has been upholding a family’s culinary traditions for generations. At a private association with a subversive past, we’ll dig into vindalho—a curry dish with ancestral roots in both Goa and Portugal.

After our glutinous day of eating and walking, we will head to the underground ancient Roman aqueducts. We will escape the city through the tunnels exiting into a wine bar where will be hosted for a private wine tasting.

Day 3

Sweet & Sacred Delights

We will take the morning free to do a bit of sightseeing, shopping or just resting. We will meet after lunch to journey to Lisbon’s last active convent. Hiding behind the whitewashed walls in the city center, it withstood the devastating 1755 earthquake and remains awash in original details. After lunch in a neighborhood eatery, we’ll tour the convent’s art collection and try our hands at making pastel de nata, the locally beloved egg-yolk tart.

After sampling our custard delicacies, we’ll continue to explore the city while arriving at a refined fish restaurant for a multi-course meal and other surprises.

Day 4

Setubal & Ancient Fish Sauce

After breakfast, we’ll drive south along the coast to the small city of Setubal, situated on the Sado estuary, for a deep look at the city’s fish industry, rooted in ancient times. We’ll start by visiting Portugal’s largest and best wholesale fish and seafood market for a better understanding of the country’s aquatic bounty. We’ll have a snack at a lunch counter favored by our favorite fishmongers before boarding the ferry across the river for an afternoon on the Troia Peninsula. Here, we will visit the Roman-era ruin of a factory town which produced garum, a fermented fish sauce considered a delicacy in Roman times. While in Troia, we’ll have a late afternoon meal, sampling some of the local specialties, before heading back to Lisbon for an evening free.

Day 5

Post Colonial Lisbon

On this full-day tour of central Lisbon, we’ll study the cuisines, history and diversity of Portugal’s former colonies. We’ll taste Cape Verdean cachupa, Brazilian pastries with fresh squeezed cane juice, Goan crab curry, Guinean baobab popsicles, bitter kola nuts and more. Along the way, we’ll meet the people in the kitchen keeping the traditions of these communities alive.

In the evening, we’ll have a cocktail at a newly opened cocktail bar run by the next generation of the Cape Verdean community.

Day 6

Song of Sea

We will travel north along the Atlantic to the westernmost part of Europe where we will descend to a wild beach and enjoy a lunch at a classic waterfront seafood restaurant with views over the rolling surf.

We’ll take a short hike on the coastal cliffs and visit a unique vineyard, then, to the family-run winery to taste their wines that, remarkably, survived phylloxera, the 19th century plague of the vines that nearly wiped out the European wine industry.
Finally, we will be treated to an exclusive visit of one of the UNESCO heritage Sintra Palaces with a cocktail at sunset.

Day 7

Farewell

Today, catch flights home or to your next destination—or, if you’d like, spend more time exploring Lisbon. We’re happy to provide additional recommendations.