Truckloads full of portugals (sometimes pronounced as po-ti-gal) are popping up across T&T over the month of February.
Portugals come from the citrus family and are a close relative of clementine. Easy to peel, this juicy fruit is a popular snack for young students for the sweet interior, refreshing taste and fun to share with friends. Some of us may remember enjoying portugals the most when pranking friends or siblings by stinging them directly in their eyes by squeezing the acidic portugal skin when they least suspected it.
Portugal is not only a fun fruit but has many nutritious properties because of their richness in fibre and vitamin C which has been shown to revitalise skin cells and strengthen teeth.
Delicious ways to use portugal
Elizabeth Bissessar
Chow
This is one of the most popular treats Trinbagonians make with portugals. The sweet and spicy flavours compliments each other well. To get more sauce, a staple feature of a delicious chow, squeeze a few of the portugals to release more juice which will absorb the aromatic flavours of garlic and chadon beni. It’s very easy to make and it a great snack you can make as an afternoon snack or serve a big bowl for your next lime.
Juice
You can buy portugals at this time of year in abundance. To make sure none of it goes to waste, try juicing them. The best of making your own juice at home from scratch is that you are in 100% control of your ingredients and you can avoid unnecessary added sugar that you need to get with store-bought juices. Juicing also will allow you to condense more portugals into a smaller serving which will help you in reaching your daily Vitamin C intake goal.
Salad
Elizabeth Bissessar
Salad should not be boring with greens, get fruity with it! It’s time to experiment more with portugal and throw in a few portugal begs into the mix. Not only will this ingredient make your salad gorgeous with bright pops of orange, it will add a delightful texture contrast with each bite. You can also use portugals in salads by using it as a dressing. Here’s a short simple recipe about how to make a portugal salad dressing.