Portuguese sausages are among the signature treats of Portugal. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Dining experience
Camoes restaurant is named after one of the country's greatest poets in history, with decoration and furnishings that showcase European elegance and luxury. His kitchen is stocked with ingredients imported from Portugal.
I visited the restaurant with a colleague, and all dishes we had were impressive. My favorite was salted codfish with salad.
Dried and salted codfish has been a traditional ingredient in the seafaring country's cuisine for hundreds of years. Sailors long ago learned to preserve fish by drying them after salting, the chef says.
He poaches and shreds the codfish first, then shapes the flesh into oval meatballs with parsley, garlic, mashed potatoes and other ingredients, before frying them. The tasty meatballs were golden and crispy on the outside, and white with dots of green spots inside.
I also liked the dish "small ham" very much, which was served simply with olive oil and breadsticks. The ham slices were razor-thin, just 1 millimeter, and were simultaneously soft and chewy.
Other hams often have a strong smoky flavor, but I didn't sense any smokiness until I was about to put the ham into my mouth.
According to Quaresma, the ham is made from free-range, organic pigs, which eat only acorns and flowers to give the pork a special flavor. The pork is salted to reduce water, and then air-dried for at least 14 months, often absorbing the scent of soft smoke. The longer the ham is dried, the drier and chewier it will be. Smoke from different types of firewood also gives the ham different flavors.
Portuguese egg tarts, a staple of Macao, are very popular with Chinese, and in the restaurant I had the most delicious egg tarts I've ever tasted.
The golden and brown surface was very crisp, but the inside was warm and sweet, and literally melted in my mouth with a pleasant aroma. The secret lies in the high cooking temperature, Quaresma says. With high heat, the egg tart cooks fast, reducing the chance for the moist filling to soak into the pastry before it sets. The consistent sweetness comes from high-quality sugar, he adds.
The most unexpected dish I had was tomato soup with a poached egg. The tomato broth was boiled with onion, garlic, sausage and other ingredients to enrich the flavor, which is both sour and refreshing.
Seafood stew is also a must-have: The broth I ate was a modest one, with about five ingredients, including shrimp, scallop, and pepper, but was very fresh and delicious.
Other specialties I didn't get to try on this visit: "Bairrada" style roasted suckling pig, with sweet-potato chips and orange, and several Macao specialties, including African chicken with green salad and potato wedges.
Quaresma has trained four cooks to help him, and the restaurant now offers set business lunch menus with choices of three or four courses, which cost respectively, 168 yuan ($27) and 188 yuan, plus a 15-percent service fee.
IF YOU GO
11:30 am-2:30pm and 6 pm-10:30 pm, Tuesday to Sunday. Camoes Portuguese Restaurant in the Legendale Hotel, 92 Jinbao Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-8511-3388, Ext 8920.
