Creatures From Below

Adventures in brave eating of sea creatures…
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If this picture doesn’t creep you out, the rest of the post just might.

That picture was actually taken of a tree outside of one of the best restaurants on the island and this meal featured here was one of the best we have had yet since we moved here.

We started with plain and garlic bread.
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Ryan ate these because there was bacon inside, but I think it was like bread with cheese and onions.
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I focused my “energy” on this delicious goat cheese.  Now, some places say goat some say cow and I really think they taste the same…and that taste is good!
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Here is where the brave eating begins.  I ordered the squid.  Yes, I squid it again!  I have really enjoyed the squid on the island and never in a million years did I think I would say that.  So when this arrived, I was cautious because I had only have the rings before.
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AH-MAY-ZING!

Seriously, this was an insanely delicious dish.  I am really glad I was brave enough to try this.
Ryan had this steak.  He raved all night about how good this was.
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In fact, dinner was so awesome that we ordered dessert, something we have not done here in quite some time.  We went with the chocolate mousse with a layer of pineapple, topped with cream and then cookie crumbles.  This was the perfect end to a perfect meal.
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Fast forward (as I am getting caught up on my pictures and posts) to a week and a half ago.
There were some visitors on base teaching a class that Ryan was taking and we thought it would be nice to show them around a little off the base.  We wound up eating dinner at Casa do Peixe.  The visitors really wanted to try out the local specialty known as a tile.  Usually this comes in fish, seafood or meat.  It is cooked in a cream sauce in a clay roofing tile.  It is a traditional Azorean dish.  They ordered one fish and one seafood.  I am happy to report they loved the food here.
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I went with the boca negra which as always is a great choice.
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Ryan went with the Azorean steak, topped with pineapple from the big island (Sao Miguel).  The steak above was much better in his opinion.  We had to tease him a little, he did order the steak at the House of Fish!
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Here is where the adventurous kicked in.  The guys visiting wanted to give the octopus a try.  Despite having finished a great meal, they were determined to try it all.  Ryan and I were hesitant when this octopus arrived, but we were brave and gave it a try.
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You know what?  It was really good.  I will admit it was tasty.  The Azoreans sure know how to prepare squid and octopus.

QUESTIONS:  Have you tried octopus or squid?  What is the most adventurous food you have ever tried?

3 comments:

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

I had some really good squid in Italy years ago. I think my sister actually tried to recreate the dish several times, but it never turned out the same...

Ameena said...

You are one brave eater my friend. I think the most adventurous thing I've eaten is just about everything in India. Everything is so dirty there that you never know when food poisoning is going to hit! :)

Melinda Walker said...

Are the first photos from Rocha?? We used to live like 2 minutes up the road from there in Feteria. It is a green house on the left. I miss it so much. Rocha was our favorite place to eat. 20 euro for both of us to eat. We would share the chicken in the tile. Did you know you can by the tiles at the pottery store at the round about near the Modelo in Angra?

When we lived on the island I had octopus for the first time when our landlords invited us over for Christmas dinner. It was quite an interesting texture. Like a gummy bear. Recently at a 10 course meal celebrating Chinese New Year I had jelly fish. Living there helped to encourage me to be less afraid of trying new foods.

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