Sunday Sardines

It's the time of year again when the Portuguese seem to go crazy about grilled sardines, always with charred peppers, a simple salad, potatoes, and, obviously, bread.

So, lastnight, when we said that our French friend, Steph, was inviting us for a sardinhada to celebrate the fact that she's at last got the papers signed for her property, the Padre got me to ask whether he could come as well. "Of course", came the reply.

And because she's French, we had a very untypical and utterly delicious salad of spinach, prawns, smoked salmon and avocado - I've never seen the last two ingredients in anything we've eaten in the Alentejo. It was dressed with lemons from her garden and a mixture of brewers yeast with olive oil and cinnamon - I never knew brewers yeast could taste so good. Excellent for skin and hair, apparently.

Accompanied with chilled white wine. And dessert, coffee and liqueurs afterwards at Sr Zé's, so he wouldn't be offended that the Padre hadn't had his Sunday lunch there.

The bigger fish, by the way, isn't a sardine. (Extra of us in Steph's garden, might take it away later, for those interested... it's an amazing property, but so much work to do...)