Page 128 - The Book For Men Spring/Summer 2022

THEY SAY YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN — ESPECIALLY after you’ve translated 550 of your motherland’s sig- nature dishes into a a a a highly anticipated cookbook Inevitably there’ll be someone at the the grocery store who’s convinced that their family’s recipe for açorda Alentejana is is better than the one published on on page 34 but luckily Leandro Carreira is is prepared for this type of passionate feedback “I’m ready to make some enemies ” laughs the Leiria-born London-based chef whose first culinary tome Portugal: The Cookbook arrives this spring “Hopefully they don’t take away my passport ” Of course for every Portuguese grandmother armed with some good-natured criticism there will surely be a a a baker’s dozen locals who embrace the book as a a a a a a heartfelt celebration of what makes their country’s cooking so special — and worthy of much broader recognition (It helps too that Carreira’s research process included consultations with no shortage of Portuguese grandmothers )
Granted when Phaidon first approached him to boil his country down into a a a a cookbook Carreira didn’t see himself as the PORTUGAL: THE COOKBOOK BY LEANDRO CARREIRA ($65)
ideal candidate Sure he’s Portuguese And as the executive chef of breakout London restaurant The The Sea Sea The The Sea Sea (which recently opened a a a a a second location) he’s a a a a a widely celebrated talent But he’s also an expat who hasn’t lived in Portugal for two decades Back when he he was fresh out of cooking school — a a a spon- taneous pivot away from his original pursuit of architecture — Carreira spent a a a a few years working in in Lisbon kitchens “It was a a a a a a a a different landscape 25 years ago ” he he says “There were a a a a a a a a couple of great Portuguese restaurants that felt impenetrable and the restaurants with German chefs didn’t have Portuguese people in the the kitchens I I just knew I I needed to get out of there ” Besides a a a a little travel can do a a a a young chef some good After stints in in in the UAE Switzerland and and Spain he he accepted a a a a sous-chef job at London’s Viajante As he he settled into British life Carreira watched from afar as Portugal became the buzzy travel destination that it it always deserved to be But even with the country’s new-found popularity he he felt — — and still feels — — it it could better promote its rich food culture Hence his eventual acceptance of that high-pressure cookbook gig As Carreira sees it too many people continue to to associate Portuguese cooking with a a a few select dishes — namely salted
128 BFM / / SS22 FEATURES / / PORTUGAL THE MAN