Pasto is not the masculine of Pasta! It comes from Casa de Pasto, a name given to modest restaurants in Portugal which has become unfashionable in the last 20 years maybe due to general bourgeoisification of society. Pasto literly means graizing… clearly too animal and primitive for today’s food culture! This blog is a collection of personal recipes, tricks, techniques and thoughts relating to a Portuguese perspective on food. Portuguese food is not well known internationally and part of me wants to keep it that way. This blog represents the other part which intends to reflect a culinary tradition which by being fragile and in some ways lacking in identity is still interesting in comparison to the over formalised cuisines of France, Italy and Spain. Food in Portugal is significantly different from the rest of Europe, partly due to ingredients and partly due to Portugal’s relative isolation. Having said all this, the blog is a vehicle for good food in general, Portugal being the point of departure but certainly not the destination (we used to be good at this in the 15th century!). Comments and exchanges welcome and I hope you enjoy the posts. If you want to get in touch please email info@pasto.org.uk
Pasto 
Hi there. Thanks for your comments. Love your beautiful pics…inspiring photography! Have added your blog as a related site. Amazing how things can grow out of mere passion:) Great to be in touch! Ciao for now.
Hi there, so pleased I found your site! I love Portuguese cooking and your tips here are really useful!
Hi, I followed you from the foodieblogroll and I love the photos you have here! Your site looks great and I’ve enjoyed reading your posts!I’ll be subscribing to your feed!
Oi Pedro,
Amei seu blog. Fotos apetitosas rs!
Vou experimetar seu bacalhau com grão de bico já nesse fim de semana. Se parece muito com o que minha mãe fazia qdo crianção no Brasil.
I have a blog of myself too, por favor dá uma olhada qdo tiver uma oportunidade: http://weirdcombinations.com/
It’s an on going project and we love it!
Cheers de San Francisco – California
Heguiberto Souza
Obrigado, gostei também muito do weirdcombinations.com
Espero voltar a San Francisco em breve!
Pedro
oi Pedro,
Qdo voltar me deixa saber. Quem sabe poderemos nos encontrar para comer & tomar uns drinques 🙂
Finalmente fiz um prato de bacalhau que por sinal ficou ‘bótimo’:
http://weirdcombinations.com/2009/08/bacalhoada-salt-cod-with-chick-peas-and-assorted-vegetables/
Um pouco da inspiração veio de seu blog 🙂
Seu blog finalemente está listado em minha página. chech it out !
Abraços
H
Hi Pedro,
Love your intro page and explanation about what Pasto means. I totally agree with you on how Portuguese food is not internationally promoted to the same degree as Italian and French cuisine. Although, you are also right that part of us (Portuguese people) are somewhat low key about promoting our food culture because we are predominately modest, yet proud folk.
I am also developing a blog on Portuguese food, wine and culture although from a Portuguese Canadian perspective. In addition, I am so appreciative about the cooking skills one must develop to create spectacular seafood.
Hoping to have a dialogue with you about the world of Portuguese food.
Look forward to your future posts,
Mannie.
Love your recipe, food looks amazing. Can you tell me how to make the paste ( red pepper) for chrgrilled chicken.
Thank you for your message. I usually buy mine (Centazzi) when I’m in Portugal. There’s a good recipe at http://www.recipegoldmine.com/worldspanish/red-pepper-paste.html but you’d need to find the peppers with the right taste. A cheat is to blend peeled roast red peppers with olive and salt; not as strong tasting but it can work well.
great site and recipes… I live in Fall River MA, hometown of Emeril Lagasse and dozens and dozens of Portuguese restaurants and as many mom and pop markets making chourico. I’ve found the recipes on your site to be fantastic… now if only a guy of Polish and Irish decent can master them 😉 I just dug a bushel of little neck clams and looking forward to trying some new recipes this week.
Thank you and good luck! Let me know how you get on.
Caro Pedro Rebelo,
Chamo-me Verónica Paixão e sou uma das dinamizadoras do blog Um Prato Português, (também com uma versão em inglês: http://aportuguesedish.com) que recentemente criámos para ser uma montra do que melhor se faz da gastronomia portuguesa. Nesta viagem queremos descobrir os Pratos Portugueses mais representativos da nossa cultura, através deles, contar as histórias dos restaurantes e dos cozinheiros que as criaram, e promover uma partilha de momentos e experiências que eles possam sugerir a cada pessoa, em qualquer parte do mundo. O seu blog “Pasto” é um dos que seguimos com atenção há algum tempo, e teríamos muito gosto em incluí-lo na nossa lista de blogs seguidos, bem como de ver o nosso na sua lista de preferências. Convido-o a passar pela nossa casa, para nos ficar a conhecer melhor.Fico a aguardar a sua resposta.
Melhores cumprimentos,
Verónica Paixão
Olá Verónica,
Obrigado pela mesagem e muitos parabéns pelo blog que já incluí nos meus link!
Cumprimentos
Pedro
Olá Pedro Rebelo, bom dia!
O seu Pasto, para mim, foi amor ao primeiro click.
Apareci num fim de tarde, cheia de fome, e tive que ir de corrida trincar qualquer coisa…
Voltei de novo num dia a seguir ao jantar, e tive que trincar umas coisinhas…
Gosto muuuuito de tudo!
Das receitas, das fotos, dos escritos e também da sua boa educação.
Por favor, continue assim, por muitos e longos anos.
Cumprimentos de uma angolana, neste jardim-à-beira-mar-plantado-e-que-AMO-de-paixão.
Dina Maria * Figueira da Foz