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By Tucker Kats
Do you think carrots and cake should go together? International student Martim Cardoso does.
At the Portuguese Culture Night on Thursday, April 12, attendees tried homemade carrot cake. Carrot cake is one of Cardoso’s favorite desserts, and he is from Portugal.
Cardoso said that he is from a city in Portugal called Porto. There is mosaic art on the roads because someone took tiles and created wonderful mosaic pieces on the streets. He also said that the beaches are beautiful and shared how one beach has black sand because it is volcanic. According to him, Portugal’s waves are the biggest in the world.
Since Portugal is on the coast, he said, there are a lot of fresh fish and shellfish. He explained that seafood such as cod and salmon is eaten a lot, as are shellfish like clams and oysters. He also explained how the Portuguese get their meat. In Portugal, the cows eat fresh grass and natural food instead of processed foods.
The Portuguese have a special method for cooking their food, Cardoso said. They boil it naturally by putting it in volcanic sand hot enough to boil it. He related how people get up early in the morning and boil their food in the sand so that they can eat it by lunch time.
Pastries and sweets are also big in Portugal, which is why Cardoso brought carrot cake to share. He said that in Portugal bakeries sell mini pies, and people will usually get a pastry and some sort of juice because they do not have espresso.
The final aspect of Portuguese culture that Cardoso talked about was soccer. Everywhere you go, he said, whether it’s soccer season or not, there are flags mounted on houses promoting soccer teams. Soccer players are big role models for the younger generation, he said.
Cardoso ended his presentation by sharing how much he loves his city and that he hopes people want to go and explore Portugal.
The event was hosted by the International Student Foundation.
The Sounding Board 