Porto Door

 

 

Need a cheapish present that’s sufficiently generic to use for just about anyone but still retains the personal touch? Make it yourself!

 

 

Blob’s Bespoke Prunes in Port

 

Per jar:

 

1 heaped cup prunes

~250ml port

1-2 tsp sugar

½ cinnamon quill

1 clove

1 tbsp brandy (optional)

Glass jars ~500ml, the ones with swing-top lids and rubber gaskets

 

Fill each jar about 2/3 with prunes.

Add cinnamon, clove and 1 tsp sugar.

Top up with port to about 1cm or ½ inch from the top.

Optionally you can add 1-2 tbsp of brandy and more sugar to taste.

Seal jar, place in a deep pan, cover with boiling water and boil for about 20 min.

You should be able to see boiling bubbles forming inside the port.

Remove the jars, allow to cool and Blob’s your uncle.

 

Cheap but decent bulk Port is fine. I prefer a younger, redder, fresh Ruby style to Tawny and usually use the cheap McWilliams Cream Port flagons.

If you use a big stock pot you can do 3 at a time.

They are best if allowed to mature in the jar for several weeks minimum, a couple of months or more for preference.

 

They can be enjoyed with a cheese platter, or served as a dessert, alone or with other stewed or preserved fruits, and either cold or gently warmed as appropriate to the season. Top with lightly whipped plain or spiced cream or crème fraiche.

 

These make the perfect present for unexpected guests, forgotten relations, etc and don't forget to save a couple for yourself.

 

 

Many Portuguese still burn a Yule log, often oak, known as the fogueira da consoada or  cepo de Natal at Christmas. The ashes are sometimes saved and are burned with pinecones during severe storms to prevent the house being struck by lightning. In some households an extra place is set at the table for alminhas a penar  (the souls of the dead), or seeds and crumbs are sprinkled in front of the fire as an offering to the same, ensuring a plentiful harvest for the following year.

 

The Portuguese Nativity Scene is known as a Crèche or Prescepio, and it is traditional for the Baby Jesus to not be added until after the Christmas Eve mass. The nativity tradition is especially strong in the Azores and Madeira, particularly in Lagoa, Azores, which has a local cottage industry based on producing prescepio figures and even maintains a nativity museum, the Museu do Presépio Açoriano.

 

Here’s a traditional Azorean Christmas pudding recipe.

 

 

Pudim de Natal

 

260g stale bread

250g brown sugar

100g almonds

50g raisins

100g candied fruit

1 tsp cinnamon

Juice and skin of lemon and orange

125g melted butter

1 small glass of rum

5 eggs

1 cup milk

 

Pour boiling water over the almonds and peel off the skins.

Chop almonds, bread and fruit.

Bring milk to the boil, pour over chopped ingredients and allow to cool.

When cold, add the melted butter, the eggs and the other ingredients, mixing well. Put in a banho-maria pan and cook for 50 minutes (ring tins such as those used to make kugehhopf are often used).

De-mould after cooling.

May be served with caramel sauce or cream.

 

The favoured Portuguese Christmas cake, the Bolo Rei (King Cake), is also made in the shape of a ring. It usually contains a small gift for luck and a dried fava bean – whoever gets the bean buys the cake the following year.

 

 

A little trivia: although the British are traditionally thought of as the great port drinkers, exports of port to France are about three times as great. The French prefer the lighter tawny styles, chilled, as an aperitif.

 

 

Feliz Natal e propero Ano Novo!