Wednesday 13 March 2013

Anthony Bourdain´s first visit to Lisbon

This week, TLC has been broadcasting in Singapore the program "No Reservations" in Lisbon. Anthony Bourdain had already been to Portugal, from the north part of the country to the islands, but never before to Lisbon. This was his first time.

The filming took place last year and actually I had already watched the show on Youtube months ago. However, only yesterday, when I saw it again on TV, I thought it makes perfectly sense to post here:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QU9T2dDZlg

Reason number 1 to recommend it? Lisbon is my city. Where I was born and grew up. Where most of my memories live. As a Lisboeta - how the people from Lisbon are called - it´s hard not to see Lisbon as one of the most beautiful and interesting cities I know.

Secondly, the program is a loyal portrait of Lisbon, its history, Fado, the people and, obviously, the food - the traditional and the modern cuisine.

At some point in the beginning of the video, Anthony Bourdain mentions that "Lisboetas like their food. They talk about it a lot and have strong ideas about what visitors should eat".

True. True. True. I can totally, totally relate to this... I personally do talk about Portuguese food a lot and I sell it as the best. It´s like there´s an unspoken mission to place Portuguese food back on the map. Everybody knows the Italians for their pasta, the Spanish their tapas, the Mexicans for their quesadillas, but not many people out there know the Portuguese for their codfish or egg tarts. So many great things about the Portuguese food... we do well by not keeping our mouths shut, that´s what I think.

One last note: the program also focus on the current economic crises and major difficulties the Portuguese people are facing. It´s something I don´t write about here, because the blog (like the program does it well) is all about celebrating the Portuguese food and its beauty, despite everything.

Now, watch the video!



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