Sunday in Portugal

It’s Sunday here in Ferragudo. We’ve just returned from a 3km walk to the nearby city of Portimão. It is still cool but sunny and clear with fluffy white clouds. During the week many restaurants are open only in the evening but Sundays are different. Sunday is when the shops close and families get together. Restaurants are filled with children, parents, and grandparents all sharing lengthy meals.
As we walked across the bridge into Portimão we could see on a street under the bridge, an open air kitchen where fresh fish was being gutted (sorry for the graphic description), rinsed, doused with olive oil and a handful of salt, and then placed on a charcoal grill. We decided we had to go there.
The restaurant was crowded but we found a place at a long table. Max asked for Sea Bass, the waitress explained that they were very big and charged for by the kilo. 44 euros per kilo in fact. He chose a Silver Bream instead. I thought I’d try the fried prawns, not the best choice as it turned out.
It is customary at the beginning of every meal to be served a group of dishes. There is always bread and butter along with small containers of sardine paste, much like our little containers of jam. Olives are usual along with marinated carrot slices. Today there was also a dish of chick peas with onions, garlic, and tuna. These are appetisers and charged for unless one sends them back.
We were brought a bowl of salad. Chopped tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and roasted peppers dressed with olive oil, vinegar, and sea salt.
Max’s fish was perfectly grilled and exceptional but my prawns were less successful. They arrived, fully intact, rosy-red in a pan with oil and garlic. There is no way to eat a whole prawn except with fingers, and then not easily. The head has to be pulled off and then the legs and shell peeled away. With all that work one gets a little meat.
At the table next to us a Portuguese couple were sharing a big pan of a sort of stew, chunks of smoked meat with tiny clams in a savory sauce. After asking them about it, I was urged to share a bit. It was delicious. That began a pleasant meal of conversation and laughter, trying to make ourselves understood. The man spoke a little English from working on cruise ships twenty years ago, his wife had only a few words but we managed to communicate. Our meal ended with them giving us a recipe for his favorite dessert, Arroz Doce (Sweet Rice) or, as we know it, Rice Pudding.
All in all, it’s been a perfectly delightful day.