Fado and Suadade

Fado Music Basics:

Fado music is a traditional form of urban folk music from Portugal. There are two main styles of fado: Lisboa Fado is traditionally performed by a female vocalist (called a fadista) with two or three male guitarists, and Coimbra Fado is generally performed by a male soloist, who both sings and plays guitar.

Fado Music Lyrics:

The Portuguese language has a word, saudade, which doesn't translate into English. It roughly means "nostalgia" or "homesickness", but implies a bittersweet longing. This word, and its adjoining concept, form the basis of the lyrical content of fado music. Songs are often about lost or unrequited love, death and general sadness.

The Origins of Fado Music:

Unlike rural folk musics, where a single culture is often responsible for the evolution of the genre, fado is an urban folk music, originating in the port city of Lisbon, where many cultures met and merged over centuries. Fado combines elements of Portuguese country folk music with Moorish and African influences, among others.

http://worldmusic.about.com/od/europeanjudaica/p/PortugueseFado.htm

The Queen of Fado: Amalia Rodrigues

 Amalia Rodrigues is the unchallenged queen of fado--the Portuguese equivalent of flamenco or blues--and one of the greatest singers on record. Her voice is rich and sinuous, with the soulful intensity of a Billie Holiday or Edith Piaf, but a warmth and sense of phrasing all her own. This retrospective ranges from her first recordings in 1952 up to 1970 and gives a superb picture of her work. The instrumentation is simple guitar and Portuguese mandolin, perfectly framing her aching laments and flowing melodies, like a gentler version of flamenco or a continental cousin of Cesaria Evora's morna. The songs include folk and popular material, but the emphasis is on the deep, passionate fado, and it doesn't get any better than this. --Elijah Wald

BEAUTIFUL LISBON

Situated on the north banks of the River Tagus, the charm of Lisbon exists in its strong links to the past. Its renovated palaces, magnificent churches and an impressive castle mirror the city's rich cultural heritage. Its eclectic blend of neighborhoods, culture and architecture distinguish this capital city uniquely from the other European capitals and make it a truly fascinating and comprehensive city to visit.
A city set on seven hills, as the legend tells, with its cobble-stoned pavements and narrow streets full of Art Nouveau cafés promises a lot to discover. Most popular spots in Lisbon are; located around Rossio and Praça do Comércio, Baixa; situated on the hill around St. George’s Castle, Alfama and Mouraria; and set on Tagus River, Belém.
Lisbon also hosts a great number of remarkable museums of ancient and modern art, some of which are Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, National Museum of Contemporary Art, National Coach Museum, Berardo Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and Carmo Archaeological Museum. But, Lisbon isn't all culture and history; Bairro Alto is the center of nightlife with various restaurants and bars where melancholic traditional Portuguese music, Fado, can also be listened.
When tired of sight-seeing, shopping in Lisbon will take all your tiredness away! The biggest shopping mall in Iberian Peninsula, Centro Commercial Colombo, will offer you innumerous options. For those who prefer to shop in local markets, there is a fascinating flea market at the Campo de Santa Clara.
The best way to discover Lisbon is to get lost in its narrow streets and up and down roads! Every narrow street will tell you a different story and every story will reach to your heart easily!
http://www.lisbon-guide.info/

The Spider

The Spider

THERE lived once a boy whose father and mother were desirous that he should learn some trade. He had no wish to do so, but, as his parents insisted upon it, he undertook to learn the trade of a shoemaker. But as soon as the father died he desisted from work and gave up making shoes. The mother was very angry with him for this and turned him out of doors. The boy told his mother that he would be sure to return home a rich man some day, and that he meant to marry the first female he met on his way. He took a basket with all his shoemaker's tools and went away. He journeyed many leagues through some forest and overgrown places, and meeting with a large square stone on his way he sat upon it, took out a loaf' from his basket, and began to eat. From under the stone a large spider came out, and the boy had hardly seen her when he said to her, "You shall be my wife." The spider upon hearing this crawled inside the basket, but the boy made a hole in the loaf he carried and put her in it. He walked and he walked, and he sighted at a great distance an old house. He entered it, placed the basket on the floor, and the spider came out of it and went crawling up the walls until she reached the ceiling, and commenced to make a web. The boy turned towards her and looking up said, "That is the way I like to see women, fond of work." The spider made no answer. The boy then went seeking for work at a neighbouring village. As it happened that in that village there were no shoemakers he was welcomed among them, and they gave him plenty of work to do. As the youth found that he was making a fortune he engaged a servant-maid to attend upon his wife, and brought her to the old house where the spider had remained. He furnished the house and bought a little clay stove and some plates and dishes for the dinner. He then went out and left the servant with the spider. The maid remained much astonished, and wondered still more when the spider told her to open a certain door which led to the fowl-house and kill a chicken, and afterwards to open a cupboard where she would find everything necessary for cooking and for the general use of the house. When the youth returned home he found the house swept and a dinner prepared of the best and most delicious viands. Being very pleased, he turned round to the spider and said, "See what a good choice I have made in my wife!" The spider from the ceiling threw down all manner of embroidered stuffs which she had worked for beautifying her house: and after they had lived in this way a whole year, and the youth had already become very rich, and no longer required to work at his trade, for everything he required in the way of clothing and food and everything else necessary for life always made its appearance without his knowing how, he resolved to return to his mother's house as he had promised her he would do at the end of a year. He ordered two horses to be saddled and got ready, and said to his servant, "You shall now act as my wife, because I am going to tell my mother that I am married." The maid was delighted at this and mounted the horse prepared for her and went with the youth. The spider came down from the ceiling and went to the fowl-house where she only found a cock left. She got inside it, and thus went walking behind the two on horseback. On reaching the forest they entered it, and both sat on the same stone, from under which the spider had come out before. They were looking on the ground when they saw the cock and heard it crow:

"Ki kiri ki,
Ki kiri kioh!
Here is the king,
And I am the queen oh!"

At that moment the stone, broke open in two parts, and became transformed into a splendid palace. The spider was turned into a beautiful princess and married the youth, who became king and she a queen. They then sent for the mother; while the servant-maid continued with them as lady in waiting.

The text came from:

Pedroso, Consiglieri. Portuguese Folk-Tales. Folk Lore Society Publications, Vol. 9. Miss Henrietta Monteiro, translator. New York: Folk Lore Society Publications, 1882.
[Reprinted: New York: Benjamin Blom, Inc., 1969.]Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Bacalao

Bacalao (Portuguese Salt Cod stew)

Chef: Scott Watkins-Sully

You need:
1 Kg Portuguese Style salt cod – soak over night (if on the bone, make sure to remove them all after soaking)
Ground black pepper
2 tablespoon of smoked paprika
2 cans of tomatoes
400 gms of Kalamatta olives (traditionally green olives are used)
8 cloves of garlic (crushed and chopped)
2 large onions (chopped)
6 large potatoes – peeled and cut into large chunks (Royal Blues would be perfect)
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Method:
Drain the soaked cod thoroughly, cut into pieces and place into the camp oven about half way up the chain. Cover with water and boil gently for about ½ an hour. Remove the fish leaving it to cool but reserve the water. Boil the potatoes in the water for about 10 minutes – remove them from the heat whilst still warm. In a pan, sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil then add the fish pieces and paprika, season with salt and pepper. Fry for about five minutes then add to the potatoes in the camp oven and return it to the heat. Stir in the tomatoes and olives and simmer form about 25 minutes.
Serving Suggestion: Serve with saffron rice.
http://www.abc.net.au/coodabeens/stories/s2122758.htm