Our Jewish heritage tours to Portugal are steeped in fascinating history and will give you the opportunity to sample a wonderful variety of Portuguese cuisine.
DISCOVER
PORTUGAL
In 1498, Portugal’s famed navigator, Vasco Da Gama, set up a sea route to India. Within half a century, with trading routes halfway round the world, Lisbon became one of the richest cities of Europe, controlling ports from Brazil to Macau, and importing citizens from afar who have contributed to the tolerant nature of the Portuguese.
Such local architectural gems as the Dos Jeronimos Monastery commemorate the great navigators who set sail from the Belem neighbourhood of the capital. The atmospheric city of Porto, famous for port wine and the standard bearer of that old world magic and glorious decadence that Portuguese cities are famed for, is second to Lisbon in size only. Porto sits at the mouth of the River Douro (translated as “river of gold”), and is home to charming stone-built villages spread over the luscious landscape.
The Portuguese countryside consists of deep valleys and terraced vineyards, as well as cork plantations and medieval castles. As in Spain, Celts, Romans, Visigoths and Moors have left their mark. Coimbra, above the River Mondego, is another of the nation’s “historic capitals” with its claim to the oldest university in Europe. In addition to Porto, Tomar and Sintra are Unesco World Heritage Sites, as is Evora, with its mysterious megaliths. The medieval walled city of Trancoso preserves ample evidence of its Jewish presence, as does picturesque Belmonte, half-hidden in the bucolic countryside.
PORTUGUESE CUISINE
The national dish is “Bacalao” – dried salted cod. The Portuguese have been obsessed with it since the early 16th century; when the fishing boats would reach Newfoundland, the sailors salted and sundried their catch to make it last the long journey back home. There is said to be 365 different ways of preparing Bacalao, a little like the French that have 365 different kinds of cheeses, one for each day of the year.
Another national dish is “cozido a Portuguesa”, a thick stew of vegetables and meat cooked and served in a variety of ways. Another very popular dish is Tripe with haricot beans but this may not be to everyone’s taste.
The cuisine of the Sephardic Jews living in Portugal is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the Jews of Spain and Portugal, with a little Moroccan influence and influence from those of Iberian origin who were dispersed in the Sephardic Diaspora.
As with other groups composing the Jewish Diaspora, Sephardim cooked foods that were popular in their countries of residence, adapting them to their kosher dietary requirements. Their choice of foods was also determined by economic factors, with many of these dishes based on inexpensive products and readily available ingredients.
The Jewish women of Portugal were known for their amazing desserts, including the incredible “Pasteles de Nata” – little cups of puff pastry filled with an amazing custard and baked in the oven.
FROM A JEWISH PERSPECTIVE
At the height of Jewish culture in Portugal, there were more than 150 thriving Jewish communities throughout the nation.
There were originally three Sephardi communities: the first, Beth Jacob, already existed in 1610, and perhaps as early as 1602. Neve Shalom was founded between 1608 and 1612 by Jews of Spanish origin. The third community, Beth Israel, was established in 1618. These three communities began co-operating more closely in 1622. Eventually, in 1639, they merged to form the Talmud Torah, the Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam.
Portuguese Jews played a significant part in the cultural and economic development of the Dutch Republic. Moreover, they enjoyed a freedom of religion unique in Jewish history. The community produced rabbis, scholars, philosophers, artists, bankers as well as founders and trustees of major international commercial companies.
When Nazi Germany invaded Holland in 1940, there were around 140,000 Jews living here, a majority of them living in Amsterdam. Of these, about 4,300 were Sephardi Jews. The synagogue was left undamaged. Why is still a mystery – it was certainly an exception in occupied Holland.
After the war, there were only some 20,000 Jews left in Holland, about 800 of whom were Sephardi. At present, there are between 20,000 and 25,000 Jews in the Netherlands, around 15,000 to 20,000 of whom in Amsterdam. In 2011, the Portuguese Jewish community had about 600 contributing members who live, like most of the Ashkenazi community, outside of Amsterdam city centre.
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