"The Butcher" is my friend

Tomorrow I´m having a Portuguese BBQ and since I´m in charge of the food, I´ve decided to get chicken to do Chicken Piri-Piri (frango no churrasco) instead of the hamburgers or sausages we had all agreed to (you´re now informed that I changed the menu).

But finding the chicken cut the way it´s supposed to be grilled, which is only open and clean, took me 2 days and it was no easy task! I knew "The Butcher" would have the chicken, for me it´s the best place to get good quality meat in Singapore. However, I didn´t have the time to go there first and went to all the supermarkets (from my understanding it´s the only place besides "The Butcher" where one can buy meat) but nada. It was all either chopped or the whole chicken with head included and I hate to chop heads off! I tried to ask the lady at one of the supermarkets to cut the chickens open, but she told me straightaway "can not".

So finally today evening I headed to the "The Butcher". At first sight, they didn´t have what I wanted either. Again, only the whole chicken (with the head!).

"Can you just cut open the chickens and clean?" - I asked
"Open? Are you sure?" - the butcher asked while giving the look
"Yes." - I said
"Ok" - he said (huge laugh)

The End

I like The Butcher, that´s what I had to say.

Let´s get started!

This is my first post, how exciting! Looks an insignificant thing to do - especially when everybody has their own blog - but not to me. The first time I thought about creating my blog was when my son was born, but was too lazy to do it and maybe a bit too shy.

But now so many nice things have been happening in my life and I feel it´s such a waste not to share it.

I´m Portuguese and moved to Singapore in Jan 2012 with my husband and now 3-year-old son. Since then, I´ve seen my little one starting to speak 2 new languages, met lots of interesting and amazing people from all over the world (Portuguese included!), traveled to paradise islands in Thailand, had an incredible job opportunity and tried delicious food. I´m far too lucky to be living all these experiences, but there´s something I really miss from home - food!

In Singapore there are no Portuguese restaurants and very, very few Portuguese products. How can a Portuguese live without its cheese or chouriço (sorry guys, this word can´t be translated to sausage, not the same!)? Well, I ask my dad to send me.

This is the 10kg box I received 2 months ago!

I always liked cooking and living in Singapore just made me appreciate even more the Portuguese food. Every get together with friends - who are people from many different cultures - is an excellent excuse to prepare a favorite dish or dessert. I really like to do it, makes me feel proud of my roots and makes other people happy. Especially with non-Portuguese friends, I feel this need to show them how special and unique the Portuguese food is. It´s a way of expressing who I am and where I come from.

This being said, what I´ll try to do with this blog is to document cooking experiences, from my favorite Portuguese dishes to new recipes I´m learning with friends from other countries and cultures. And, of course, I´ll have to add a pinch of Asian flavors!

Let´s get this started!