Posted on: Wednesday, June 29, 2005

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Portuguese event yields tasty recipe

By Wanda Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Spent a delightful Saturday afternoon at the Kona Historical Society's Portuguese Heritage Festival last weekend, held in a pasture on a hillside below the old Greenwell store in Captain Cook on the Big Island.

For the event, the society built a forno — a masonry oven, faced not with the usual brick or stucco but with local rock, artfully fitted together like the dry stone walls that form the pasture boundaries. One reason for the event was to tell the community about plans for the Kona Heritage Ranch, an outdoor living history museum that will celebrate work, family, ethnicity and community — including the Portuguese. (Find more at www.konahistorical.org.)

I got teary-eyed seeing older ladies who reminded me of my grandmother and recalling how much of Portuguese culture has faded. Today, most people think Portuguese food is bean soup, linguica and sweetbread — and maybe vinha d'ahlos (pickled pork) and bacalhau (salt cod) stew. But the early immigrant cooks had a repertoire of dozens of recipes.

I participated in a talk-story time with a group of women, recalling old-time Portuguese foods and cooking, customs and feasts. I encountered a new recipe at the event: slow-simmered and marinated beef made into delicious, garlicky sandwiches called pregos.

I bought literally the last copy of the Kona Historical Society's Portuguese Heritage Cookbook ($4.95 — they're reprinting). Below is the recipe as the cookbook presents it. I added a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of beef soup base to deepen the flavor of the gravy that forms from the pan juices.

P.S. You could cut the fat by using just a couple tablespoons of butter and using a cup of strong beef broth in which to saute the garlic and beef.

Pregos: Place a 2-pound chuck roast in the freezer for half an hour to firm up (makes it easier to slice). In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, melt 1/2 cup butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil over very low heat. Mince 8 cloves garlic and heat these gently in the butter until they release their fragrance; do not allow to sizzle or boil. Remove chuck roast from freezer and slice thinly. Place the meat in the pot with the butter and garlic and turn up heat; when the meat juices are boiling, turn down heat and gently simmer until meat has turned from red to brown. Turn off heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot sauce or chili pepper water, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper. Stir, taste and correct seasonings. Allow the meat to marinate for a few hours(or overnight in the refrigerator). Reheat to boiling and serve.

Makes 8 generous servings.

• Per serving: 400 calories, 34 g total fat, 16 g saturated fat, 110 mg cholesterol, 320 mg sodium, 1g carbohydrates, 0 g fiber, 0 g sugar, 21 g protein.

Serve in split dinner rolls — the buttery, soft, white rolls Portuguese call bolinhos are good; open the rolls, dip into the juices, then fill with meat. Or serve over hot rice.