David’s AEB Fellowship Project

During his time at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow, scheduled for April through May 2004, Leite intends to work on his Portuguese-American cookbook. The project stems from his passion for the food of his heritage (the Azores) and his desire to preserve recipes from his family and the Portuguese-American community.

For the month of his fellowship, Leite will be compiling and testing egg-based desserts.  Sweet, eggy desserts were introduced to Portugal by the Moors and were later refined into an art form by the nuns of the convents that dotted the country and its colonies.  According to David, some of the most popular and enduring recipes beloved by the Portuguese are:  pastéis de nata, a cream custard in pastry shells; sopa dourada (golden soup), a light egg custard spooned into cups filled with chunks of bread and then chilled; and pão-de-ló, a rich sponge cake with a pudding consistency, into which most people can’t resist dipping.

AEB:  What do you expect will be the main difference in writing a cookbook, as compared to a newspaper or magazine article?

DAVID:  More pacing, more sweating and more ‘angsting’, I’m sure.  If the proposal is any indication, I’m in for a lot of work.  I’m one of those people who can’t do anything halfway.  So I’m sure I’ll turn over every leaf, and every turn of phase, until the book’s perfect.   I’m sure my editor will have to pry the manuscript from my hands like my agent had to do with the proposal.  I kept saying to her, “But just give me one more day!”  She eventually put her foot down.

AEB:  Have you chosen a title for the cookbook?

DAVID:  Yes.  Refogado: Recipes and Tales from a Portuguese-American Kitchen. Refogado – onions sauted in olive oil until they’re browned and meltingly sweet – is the basis of almost every savory dish in the Portuguese repertoire.  The first step of many Portuguese recipes says “faz um refogado”or make a refogado.  I chose the title because the cooks in my family and in my community are the foundation of who I am, of what I do, and of every dish I make.

AEB:  Is it the globalization of cuisine which prompts your wish to record authentic Azorean/Portuguese recipes or did another factor inspire you to write the book?

DAVID:  It’s a love of country, love of food, love of ethnic cuisine.  Although 1.3 million people identify themselves as Portuguese-American, many younger people have no idea how to make the traditional recipes they’ve grown up eating or those they’ve heard about and for which they can’t find recipes.  There seems to be a loss of ethnic diversity in this world.  Even back in Portugal, there were more bottles of a ubiquitous international hot sauce than there were of small locally produced brands.  That saddens me.

AEB:  Will the book encompass only recipes or will it also be anecdotal?

DAVID:  It will be half narrative, half recipes.  I want the world to know we’re not just about old women wearing black and holding prayer beads.  We’re also a raucous, funny, neurotic bunch.  Growing up in a Portuguese family, I learned to do two things well:  yell and cook.  Through me, I want others to know my family and community for what we are—a crazy, funny, lovable and loving group of people who can cook like there’s no tomorrow.  The Portuguese are industrious, creative and adaptable and you can expect to see this in the recipes.  The book will be written in the same style as my articles and will be the first major Portuguese-American cookbook to be published.  Based upon all the e-mails I’ve received from my readers, they’re hoping for a book similar to A Year in Provence or Under the Tuscan Sun, a book with good food stories and great characters.

AEB:  In addition to recipes passed down through your family, will the cookbook include recipes adapted from other sources?  Recipes gleaned through personal travel?  Both?

DAVID:  I’ll include recipes from my family, my friends, the community where I grew up, as well as from my travels throughout the country.  Then, I’ll let the food speak for itself.

AEB:  Will you include variations of recipes as they were/are traditionally prepared on each Azorean island or mainland Portugal?  Will you discuss Mediterranean and other influences on the mainland cuisine?

DAVID:  I’ll include variations.  But, when there’s debate or confusion, even fiery argument, I’ll include the closest to the Old World original—if I can find it.

AEB:  Do you expect you’ll be able to establish the origins of some of the intriguing names of desserts mentioned in your article for the Los Angeles Times, “Lost in the Atlantic”—mother-in-law’s eyes, sighs, nuns’ bellies, etc?

DAVID:  I’ll try, but much of it is slang, some from the nuns in convents, some from kids.  Other fun names are touchino do céu, or bacon from heaven, which is a misnomer.  Don’t know how that happened.  There’s no bacon in it, just lots of eggs and sugar.  Sonhos, which mean dreams, are airy little bites of fried dough that are tossed with confectioners’ sugar or drizzled with honey.  I once read that the Portuguese have the highest sugar consumption per capita of any people in the world!

AEB:  Based on “Lost in the Atlantic” and the Azorean/Portuguese recipes on your site, it appears that eggs are traditionally used more for baking “toothachingly sweet” desserts, as you describe them, than for any other use.     Are there also authentic main dish recipes from your family’s homeland that include eggs?

DAVID:  Absolutely.  I’ll include egg main dishes in the book.  Eggs are used in tortilhas, or frittatas, which are made with all kinds of fillings:  codfish, sausage, vegetables, seafood, etc.  Eggs are also used in soups and as a binder.  Then, there’s bifesteak à Portuguesa, for which some variations call for a fried egg to be placed on top.

AEB:  What would you especially like potential readers of your upcoming cookbook to know?

DAVID:  That the Portuguese and the Portuguese-American community have a vibrant, rich culture and our heritage merits attention.

AEB:  What’s next?

DAVID:  I have a burning desire to give birth to this book but, after that, I’ll cast about for different subjects, because I don’t want to get pigeon-holed.  I expect to end up with a book on food essays.  That’s something I really enjoy writing.  And MRP’s “The Splendid Table” has asked me to record some of them for the show. Now that’s fun!

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