Tradition

This week, in our village, is the "Festa". The village celebrates the Feast of Saint Margaret, the patron saint of out village church.  The festa usually lasts 6 days, starting with a mass and procession in honour of Saint Margaret. During various afternoons, there are bullfights and in the evenings people gather in the village square, to watch various entertainment acts, which vary from, folk dancing, to marching bands, to tradtional singing. I have to be very honest here, it is all lovely , but what I am most drawn to is the food of the celebration. I seldom go out in the evening, I may watch, one bullfight at my grandmother's, but what I cannot resist doing (and by now my children would not have it any other way) is preparing the traditional Alcatra and Massa Sovada. The Alcatra, is a beef roast prepared in a clay pot, and cooked over several hours till it is fork tender. It is a tradtional dish for the island, but the recipe varies from village to village, as not everyone will use the same spices. The Massa Sovada, is sweet bread, kneaded over a long period of time (sovada means a beating), then left to rise, punched down, laid out on "coquilho" leaves (yellow kahili) and then baked.  Traditionally both were baked/cooked in the wood burning oven. This is how I bake them in our home. And yes one could argue, that you could make the Alcatra in the gas oven, and yes you could buy the Massa from the baker, but for me it just would not be the same. Preparing these two dishes, as my grandmother's would have and their mothers before them, for me is a labour of Love.

heating up the wood burning oven

Alcatra, settled in for cooking

Alcatra, out of the oven

kneading Massa Sovada

laid out on Yellow Kahili leaves, for baking

ready to come out of the oven

considering it was the first time , I baked my Massa, in the oven, it came out really well

the perfect pairing, Alcatra and massa Sovada

xo,Diana