January 22nd, 2007, 2:46 pm

Bobó de Camarao y Israeli Delights

LISBOA, Portugal, January 22, 2007

One of the best things about my job at the Oasis hostel is the free dinner, cooking by a rotating cast of local chefs.

Seeing as how free food is my number one passion in life - (heck, this ain’t the first job I took because of the munchies) - I’ve been in Portuguese heaven.

(Unfortunately, my Flickr uploadr has been less than friendly recently, so I’ve few pics to share with ya.)

First up is Chef Linda’s Bobó de Camarao, a Brazilian dish of manioc (dried yucca root), coconut milk, veggies and shrimp over rice. Although this isn’t the exact recipe, I found one online that should be enough to get you started. (Note: It’s not necessary to grind your own yucca root; they sell manioc powder in stores).

Vegetarian-for-life Chef Ella (and how cool is that?) gave me culinary orgasms with her impeccably balanced meal, dervived from traditional Israeli recipes. Basic lentils and rice were topped with a savory tomato sauce with perfect baby peas. Potato latkes - made simply with grated potato, onion, egg, salt and pepper, were fried in oil and left to warm in the oven. (Ella claimed she hadn’t made these since she was 12 years old, but her mastery of them left me with doubt …)

And then of course, my favorite menu item was the tabouli salad. Deceptively simple; with a composition of greens, tabouli and fresh herbs. Cilantro and fresh mint warred in the mouth for prominence; biting back against the tongue that could only ask for more. The crisp greens and fried latkes provided excellent textural contrast in play with the tomato sauce. Delightful!