

Recreating “Portugal cakes” from 1730 - Petiver
https://rarecooking.wordpress.com/2014/12/29/potingallportugal-cakes/

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jcrei
The name Portugal refers to the orange fruit, not the country. Orange in many
parts of the world (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and I think some Arabic
countries) is still called something like "Portucalle". This is due to the
fact that the sweet variety of oranges we now consume was first brought to
Europe by Portuguese sailors / merchants. (Before that, oranges were like
lemons are now, just used for cooking) This differs from Orange in many other
countries where the name comes from "Apple from China"..
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_%28fruit%29#Etymology](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_%28fruit%29#Etymology)

~~~
diego_moita
Oranges, were introduced into Portugal by the Moors (current day Moroccans and
Algerians) when they invaded Iberian Peninsula. It spread from there to the
rest of Europe.

Funny thing is that the Persians knew citrus fruits (originated in Central
Asia) long before the Portuguese but they also call it portqale while the
Portuguese name (laranja) comes from the sanskrit "nāraṅga" brought by the
Persians themselves.

The reason is that the Portuguese discovered very soon that the citrus are
very efficient to fight scurvy, caused by C vitamin deficiency, a disease that
made impossible to travel long oceanic voyages. So during 15th and 16th
century they established a lot of trading posts around the world where they
could get a supply of fresh oranges.

Oranges were one of the secrets discovered by the Portuguese to enable long
sailing ships. Like land and celestial maps and gun powder, they were one of
the most essential technologies to enable mercantilism, European colonialism
and globalization.

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galfarragem
These "Portugal cakes", if still exist, are not popular in Portugal. We still
have recipes of cakes and breads with raisins but the orange flower water,
I’ve never heard about it. It might be a recipe branch that grew independently
taking Portuguese traditional ingredients (raisins, oranges and fortified
wine) and didn't survived in Portugal.

Nowadays the most Portuguese pastry is by far:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastel_de_nata](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastel_de_nata)

They are easily available in Portuguese emigrant neighbourhoods all over the
world. Give it a try, you'll not regret it.

~~~
quesera
>
> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastel_de_nata](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastel_de_nata)

Interesting. I've had those in "Chinese" Dim Sum restaurants, but while they
were clearly atypical for Chinese food, I had no idea they were originally
Portuguese.

Strongly second the recommendation. They're delicious!

~~~
pkallberg
Macau, a former Portuguese colony, is full of these pastries. This may be how
they entered China...

~~~
Umofomia
Indeed, they were popularized in Hong Kong via Macau:

    
    
        Custard tarts derived from the Portuguese pastry were
        introduced in Hong Kong in the 1940s by cha chaan tengs
        via the Portuguese colony of Macau.
    

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_tart#History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_tart#History)

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mprovost
When I moved overseas I was surprised how many dishes use currants like this
one does. Or how it's used in drinks like Ribena. But it turns out that
growing currants has been illegal in the US for most of the 20th century with
some states lifting the ban only in the last few years. This was due to the
threat of it spreading disease to trees so the logging industry had it banned.
So they're pretty much never used in American recipes.

~~~
luke1972
Currants are just dried grapes
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zante_currant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zante_currant)).
The currants in Ribena are blackcurrants
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackcurrant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackcurrant))
which are completely different.

~~~
twic
This is correct, but i still want to try a soft drink made with currants!

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bane
I love this kind of archeology. I feel like it really makes me connect better
with people from long ago to taste what they taste and experience (if even
just a little) something that they would have experienced.

I know it's been done a bit in the past, but I feel like this kind of
resurrection archeology is really gaining steam recently. There's a lady in
Baltimore, MD who tries to figure out fashionable Roman hairstyles for
example. There's a "Medieval" restaurant not too far from me that tries to
only serve meals based on recipes and eating techniques available from the
period. Mt. Vernon, George Washington's Home, has recently restarted the
original distillery, making whisky as close to the way it would have been made
as possible (including stream cooled condensers).

I'm waiting for some of this to really take off in Europe and Asia. New World
foods, especially the pepper, absolutely transformed traditional foods. I'd
love to eat some original Southern Indian Cuisine from pre-1492.

I know we're living in the future...but to some extent we can also live in the
past and that's awesome.

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powertower
> 1/2 lb. all-purpose flour

Wouldn't the flour have to be bolted Spelt or Einkorn flour (i.e., the
original strains before 1900s)?

Seems like a modern strain of wheat (that's also been fully degermed to make
"white") would give a completely different result to the 1700s original.

