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Dispatch from Lisbon, Portugal
Text, photographs and web design by Erik Gauger
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Setubal is a mazelike city, even more gnarled and twisty than Evora. It hugs the coast of the Setubal Peninsula, facing south. Immediately west of the city, the mountain road rises high above the ocean. It is a chapparal-like landscape, and at one point, we pass a whitewashed monastery clinging to the scrub. This old Franciscan monastery faces the ocean. We are looking for the Azeitão region, where Azeitão cheese is produced.
In Setubal, we buy our sixth cheese at a local market near the Atlantic coast. But we quickly realize it is a fake. It may be labeled Queijo de Azeitão, but it tastes like butter. Portugal's ability to protect its authentic traditional foods lags behind the rest of Western Europe. To find the real thing, you need to make sure its labeled DOP, which is similar to France's AOC label of authentication.
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Madrid to Cuenca
"..and I sensed that he too, could 'pick up the dirt and smell it' at least if it was a good Spanish vineyard dirt."
Lisbon's Alfama
It is colored in a smudgy gray, festooned with pinks and canaries and aquas and limes.
Tangier, Morocco
Travels with an Imaginary Fromagier: On day One of Ramadan, we seek out handmade Berber cheese in Tangier.
Britains Gibraltar
Travels with an Imaginary Fromagier: Reflect on the monkeys of Gibraltar, culture and cheese.
Andalucia
Travels with an Imaginary Fromagier: Notes regarding our quest to find the best artisanal cheeses in Southern Spain.
Extremadura
Travels with an Imaginary Fromagier: Wandering in Spain's most unvisited region.
The Beiras
Travels with an Imaginary Fromagier: "...Many of the shepherd huts are made of stone and thatch. Our goal is the small settlement the boys mentioned..."
The Alentejo
Travels with an Imaginary Fromagier: "...Weather which tops out at over a hundred and ten degrees in the summer season help to keep this third of Portugal thinly populated."
The Lisbon Coast
Travels with an Imaginary Fromagier: Setubal is a mazelike city, even more gnarled and twisty than Evora. It hugs the coast of the Setubal Peninsula, facing south.
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