May is probably one of my favourite months of the year in Portugal. It´s the month when the cherries and snails start being sold, two things that I love!
Portugal is a producer of cherries and they are so sweet and delicious! Unfortunately, the cherry season lasts only for about two months, so you better have as many as you can during that period. I used to do that. It´s quite easy to find cherries in Singapore at the supermarkets, however, again, I think it´s ridiculously expensive. In Portugal, it´s not the cheapest fruit either, but there´s still a big difference.
As for the snails... probably many won´t know that the Portuguese have this tradition and passion for snails. It might look disgusting, but it´s delicious! I remember eating snails as a little girl and my son used to eat it too when he was not even 2 years old, before moving to Singapore. Like the cherries, the snails are very limited in time - only from May to August.
Snails are an amazing afternoon snack on sunny days, it´s very light and goes very well with a beer. Almost every restaurant, cervejaria or café has this snack, hence it´s the type of food you never prepare at home, you just go out to eat it as it is so easy to find.
The snails don´t seem very hard to prepare, but requires some skill. They must be cooked very slowly, so that the snails don´t die and hide inside the shell. When well cooked, the snails are popping out of the shell and you just have to suck these little ones out of the shell. I know, this must look a bit grotesque... but when you eat it´s not.
The snails are cooked in water, with garlic, onion, laurel, a bit of piripiri, salt, olive oil, pepper and the key ingredient - Oregano! They are served with the sauce where they are cooked in and that´s why with this snack we must always, always have bread!
I wish I could be in Portugal now :)
