With their restaurants temporarily closed, Bar Douro has previously launched a delivery service, including a selection of Portuguese wines from their cellar. As we enter the seventh of lockdown, the Portuguese restaurant and wine bar has also launched an online bottle shop with over 30 wines and ports, available to buy by the bottle or in specially curated cases, including ‘The Classic’, ‘The Explorer’, ‘The Natural’, and ‘Wine Enthusiast’.
What’s more, Bar Douro have also shared a selection of adapted recipes to be cooked at home, in anticipation for the restaurants to re-open. These include the likes of Clams à Bulhao Pato, named after 19th Century poet Raimundo António de Bulhão Pato, enamoured by the seafood dish, regularly writing about it; Bacalhau à Brás, a Portuguese classic made with salted cod, onions and matchstick potatoes; and the restaurant’s Toucinho do Céu – a Northern Portuguese almond tart.
Serves two
Salted Cod, 120g (desalted)*
Potatoes, 200g, cut into matchsticks
White onions, 100g, sliced
Olive oil, 50ml
Green or black olives, 50g, sliced
Eggs, 3
Chives, ½ bunch, chopped
Salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Rehydrate the bacalhau salted cod for 48 hours by soaking in cold water and changing the water every 12 hours.
Peel potatoes and slice them with the help of a mandoline. Cut them into matchsticks. Wash under water in order to remove the starch. Dry the potatoes with a cloth. Deep fry at 150C until golden and crispy. Remove the potato from the oil and dry with kitchen roll.
Poach the cod in simmering water for 5 minutes.
Remove the cod from the water and let it cool slightly before flaking the fish, removing bones and skin.
In a pan, heat the olive oil, add the onions and season with salt.
Cook the onions slowly until they are very tender.
Once tender, add the cod and olives, and mix well.
Add the potatoes and stir in order to warm the potatoes.
Add the beaten eggs and fold well using the residual heat from the pan. It should be creamy.
Add the salt and pepper to season, sprinkle with chives and serve
*If you cannot find salted cod in your regular shop you can use the following method to create your own, using fresh cod or alternatively any other white fish like haddock, hake or pollock:
Cod fillet, 500g
Sea salt, 600g
Wash and pat dry the fillet of your chosen fish.
Cover a tray with a layer of sea salt.
Lay the fish on top and cover with the remaining salt and refrigerate for 36 hours.
Once cured, the fish need to be soaked in water for 24 hours to remove the excess salt.
Serves two
Fresh clams, 300g
Garlic cloves, 2, thinly sliced
Coriander, 20g (stalks and all)
Vinho Verde, 100ml (alternatively you can use a fresh white wine)
Olive oil, 100ml
Lemon, ½
Soak the fresh clams in water, which has been sprinkled with salt, for one hour.
Drain and rinse a couple of times in order to remove the sand.
If there are clams that are not fully closed, or the shells are damaged, discard them.
In a pan, heat the olive oil and add the garlic.
Cook the garlic until golden.
Add in the washed clams and stir.
Add the wine, half of the coriander and cover the pan with a lid.
Once the clams have opened squeeze the lemon juice and stir the sauce.
Serve with the remaining coriander leaves atop the cooked clams.
Serves 12
Ground almonds, 400g
Water, 190ml
Caster sugar, 350g
Salt, 2g
Butter, 90g
Ibérico lard (alternatively use normal lard or same amount of vegetable oil), 45g
Egg yolks, 8
Whole eggs, 3
Amendoa Amarga (or amaretto), 30ml
Orange, zest of one
Flour and butter, for the mould
Icing sugar
Preheat the oven to 160C.
Grease a round cake mould with butter and dust lightly with flour.
Add the water, sugar and lard to a pan and bring to a boil.
Add the almonds and stir.
Cook over a medium-low heat for 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat add the butter and mix well.
Add the eggs, egg yolks, orange zest and the Amendoa Amarga. Stir well.
Pour the mix into the cake mould and bake for 30 minutes. (The cake should be firm and the top golden)
Remove from the oven and let it cool down.
Remove the cake from the mould into a serving dish.
Dust the top with icing sugar.
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