Eurasian (Macanese/Portuguese) Recipes

Coming from an Eurasian family, something I think I hold on to because I often feel I am neither here nor there, I never really realized that some of the things we were eating at home was Eurasian food. I just assumed they were fully Chinese or fully Portuguese food, not this magical blend of cultures that the Portuguese descendants in Macau generated. 

Having said that, some of these dishes are among my favorites to eat and out of curiosity one day I did a google search to see what came up, and really the result was practically nothing.

Now I know I can always ask my Mum, and Avo recently gave me a file of recipes that she and her friends and collated together.  But really, I don't get how this can be. How can there be nothing on the whole wide web on this pretty famous, I thought, subsection of food. You'll notice that there is a lot of the web about Eurasian (Malacca & Ipoh/Portuguese) food. And some on Eurasian (African/Portuguese) food. And those recipes and articles are not necessarily written by Eurasian people, just be anyone who appreciated the food. So perhaps this cuisine is not as famous as I thought,  perhaps there are no Macanese restaurants out there. Perhaps like Heng Hua food, the only places you can eat it outside its source country is in people's homes.

So anyway, out of further curiosity I emailed my trusty grand uncle D who not only emailed me his set of recipes, he pointed me to his club's website for the links section: http://www.uma-casademacau.com/index.php/links/ . From there he said I would find websites some of which would have recipes. His club's website is planning to upload recipes in the future.

So here it is, all of what I have found on the web, general interest wise, on Macanese cuisine, but sadly not really heaps of recipes..... yet. Like the cat, I will keep following my curiosity.

Macanese Culinary http://www.facebook.com/pages/Macanese-Culinary/200790975417 - YAY RECIPES!!!!!

Not Quite Nigella http://www.notquitenigella.com/2011/10/16/macanese-week-at-the-four-seasons-circular-quay/ attended a Macanese Food Weed in Sydney just this month to give her review.

Diary of a Growing Boy http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/search/label/Cuisine%20-%20Macanese also has a few reviews on Macanese food.

Casa de Macau (Vancouver) http://www.casademacau.org/newsletter.htm has some of its newsletters online and its July 2011 edition had a recipe in it. I'm hoping that this means if I read all the back issues or check back for future issues it will mean I find more recipes so stay tuned. This Casa also holds cooking lessons for its members.

Casa de Macau (Toronto) http://www.casademacau.ca/index1.htm in the newsletter talk about their Gastronomia Cooking Events, where the club rents out a venue with kitchen. They have a Gastronomia Representative who decides on the dishes which members who sign up learn how to make. The members fully participate in the preparation, cleaning up and enjoying the fruits of their labour under the representative and a few other members familiar with the recipes.  The premise behind the whole gastronomia is not only the reviving and preservation of Macanese recipes but going hand in hand with this is to pass on the techniques and methods of the preparation of the dishes. Members are told to bring an apron and a healthy appetite. So although no actual recipes here, I did like reading about what dishes they were about to learn. Also they once had a demonstration night, where everyone brought their family's version of the same one dish. How fascinating.

Casa de Macau (Sydney) http://www.casademacau.org.au/history/cuisine.htm#cookbook is currently calling for recipes to compile into a cookbook. I've already emailed and asked to be contacted when the book comes out, I want a copy! Here is the information from the page:

Towards fulfilling the charter of the CGM, our Correspondent Member Yvonne Husband is planning to promote and preserve Macanese food here in Australia, by putting together a 'Casa de Macau Australia Cookbook'.Many of our ancestors were marvellous cooks and appreciated good food, but their recipes were often treasured and guarded - and as such many recipes have been lost as the generations have passed on.So please, don't let your family recipes 'die'. Take action today to preserve your family legacy by sending us your Macanese recipes - and be part of our 'historic' Casa de Macau Australia Cookbook. 

Simply send us your recipes by ensuring that you:1. List the recipe and the cooking instructions (in either Portuguese or English)2. Attach your contact details (name, address, phone and email)3. Include the name of the "Family" that the recipe originated from

Please send those recipes to:Yvonne De Menezes Bayot Husband 5 Carrington Road RANDWICK NSW 2031AUSTRALIA Fax: (02) 9340 4480 or click here to email

The planned recipe categories are: Soup Appetizers Fish Chicken Beef Desserts/Sweets Rice/Noodle Dishes Christmas Recipes

UPDATE: 22/10/11
I've found a good site with all the Macanese recipes, including the ones from the above Casa de Macau (Sydney). They are all on this website http://www.macanesefamilies.com/. If you're Macanese you will be able to obtain a password and browse to your hearts content.