Happy New Year, everybody!
Mike and I are celebrating our second new year in Portugal. On New Year’s Eve last year we were getting ready to move from Porto to Parede and there was a noisy party going all night in the apartment next door, so we didn’t do much celebrating… or much sleeping.
This year we decided to do it up right by mixing our old US traditions with some new Portuguese traditions.
On New Year’s Eve in the US, we usually stayed at home. I would always make a new recipe for dinner, and we’d have a celebratory cocktail or two. Here in Portugal the atmosphere can get loud and stay loud for several hours after the stroke of midnight, even in the quietest of neighborhoods – as we learned in Porto.
There’s a recipe down below. If you’re anxious to get started, press the button to jump ahead.
Some Portuguese customs
I had done a little research and realized that US Americans and the Portuguese have several things in common when bringing in the new year. Food, parties, fireworks and alcohol top the list in both countries, but the Portuguese add a few unique and unusual customs to the mix. Here are a few that we adopted this year.
Stuff Your Pockets With Cash. The Portuguese believe if your pockets are empty on New Years you will live in poverty for the rest of the year. Mike and I use plastic to buy everything, but we made sure to have cash in our pockets to ward off any poverty that might want to come at us.
Wear New Underwear. Now this is a tradition that I can get behind. The new underwear is said to bring love and good luck.
Make A Strategic Choice When Picking Out Your Clothes. The Portuguese believe that the color of the clothes you wear to bring in the New Year will define your destiny in many different areas of your life.
Blue = Luck
Red = Love
Yellow = Money
White = Peace
Green = Health
Brown = Professional Success
I don’t know why you wouldn’t wear all of the colors!
Eat Raisins. Exactly twelve – one for each month – to bring good luck throughout the year.
Drink Sparkling Wine. I don’t know the reason, but I say “why not?” While you can purchase Champagne in Portugal, they make their very own Espumante which rivals Champagne. (Just don’t tell the French!)
Eat Bolo Rei. Also known as King cake or three king’s cake, this treat is associated with the Christian feast day known as Epiphany. Bolo Rei is a lightly spiced, dense cake stuffed with fruit and nuts and decorated with candied fruit and confectioners sugar.
Make Some Noise! Tradition has it that at midnight you run to the window and make as much noise at you can by banging lids of cooking pots together. This is one of the oldest and most deep-rooted superstitions in the world, even older than the Roman Empire. It is meant to scare away evil spirits and old ghosts that haunted the previous year.
In Lisbon, during the 1950s and 60s, old plates and pots were thrown out the window, but this caused such chaos that the ritual was put to an end.
Don’t Eat Chicken. This is perhaps my favorite. The idea is to not eat chicken as your last meal of the year or your happiness could fly away like a bird.
Fun fact: Back on the farm in Indiana, I used to feed my chickens raisins. They were lucky ladies!
We were able to do all of the above except the banging of pot lids. I began hearing the first of the much anticipated fireworks around 23:15. Then Mother Nature intervened about 23:30 and rained on everybody’s parade in Parede. Thanks Mother Nature!
Our old custom
Earlier in the evening I reverted to my US tradition of making a new dish to share with the man I love, and I would like to share it with you.
This Baked Brie with Garlic and Mushrooms is super simple and would make a great appetizer at any party you throw. The recipe comes from Deb Perlman, one of my favorite cooking bloggers. She has been publishing amazing recipes at Smitten Kitchen for 14 years and is the author of three beautiful cookbooks*.
Baked Brie With Garlic and Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1 pound mushrooms, any kind, large chop
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (I’m using Diamond, use half of other brands)
- freshly ground pepper
- 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- juice of a half lemon
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 8-ounce wheel of brie (or camembert)
- A few sprigs of thyme (optional)
- Toasted baguette slices
Instructions
- Heat oven to 450°F. In a 2-quart baking dish, toss mushrooms with capers, garlic, oil, salt and many grinds of pepper. Dot with butter and roast, turning over once, until mushrooms are more deeply browned and a bubbly garlic sauce begins to form below, 15 minutes. While the mushrooms roast, trim the top off your brie with a sharp knife — it’s totally edible but this makes it easier to dip into when warm. Make space in the center of the mushrooms and nestle in the brie and top with thyme, if using. Return to oven for 10 minutes, until brie is warm and loose, adding more minutes if needed. Squeeze lemon juice and scatter parsley over mushrooms. Arrange baguette slices around the brie and mushrooms. Place a small spoon the brie and a larger spoon in the mushrooms. Serve immediately, swooping brie and scooping mushrooms and their juices on the toasty bread.
Notes
- I usually use cremini mushrooms but I had a few oyster mushrooms too, and tore them in, and you should use whatever you have around.
- You didn’t ask but my favorite place to buy cremini, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms in NYC is the Bulich Mushroom stand at the Union Square Greenmarket. They’re usually on the north end on Wednesdays and Saturday. The prices are reasonable and the quality impeccable each time.
- Yes, there are capers in here and you’re about to tell me you hate capers and ask what else you can use — I’d use anchovies. If you’re about to tell me you don’t like anchovies either, I’m going to suggest that you might just not like briny things and that’s okay, you can skip it. Nobody has ever complained about mushrooms merely roasted in garlic butter. But I insist that the capers add an amazing nuance here.
- The mushroom portion of this dish is adapted from the late Gourmet Magazine. You can also find the garlic butter roasted mushrooms in the archives here.
I thought about doing this post before the New Year began, so you might get to add some new traditions to your repertoire. But to do that I would have to have everything done early, and I just don’t have the patience or discipline for that.
My hope is that you will dig it up next year (like an old episode of “Ted Lasso”) and have some fun introducing some new traditions for yourself and your family.
Have a healthy, happy New Year / Tenha um Ano Novo saudável e feliz
Mary
The Cook
What did you do to bring 2022 to an end? Any New Year’s resolutions you would like to share? I’m all ears. Leave a comment below or send one in via the Contact Us form.
* This link is direct to Amazon.com. At the time of this writing (January, 2023), we receive no affiliate payment if you buy a copy. If that changes in the future, we’ll let you know.
Hey, Mary — I’m going to make this for our next wine club gathering. It sounds amazing. We’ll raise a glass to you and Mike!
Happy New Year to both of you!
Karen
Hey Karen,
It is so good to hear from you. I really miss seeing you and Jeff, and I hope that you both are happy and doing well. I would love to hear what you think of the recipe. It is so simple and easy.
Love to you both.
Mary
Happy New Year to both of you. Looks like an amazing recipe to make as an appetizer. I’m lactose intolerant, so couldn’t make a dinner from it. We did something different with very dear friends for New Year’s Eve. 7 of us had a late lunch in Philadelphia instead of our usual get together for dinner and not getting home until after midnight.
Alice,
Let me know if you make it. I would love to see a picture. Mike and I used to do a New Year’s lunch with two other couples in Indianapolis. It was safer than going out and not near as busy – although a lot of restaurants were closed. I’m glad you got to celebrate with dear friends.
Mary
Thanks Mary for another great vegetarian recipe. WhileI expect our waistlines won’t allow us to make it as often as you one pan broccoli-rabe, tomato, lemon and feta one…I will be sure to give it a try. Bom Ano
Happy New Year to you and Denise. That recipe is definately one for special occasions. Let me know when you try it.
Mary, that Brie recipe sounds delish. I will definitely try it. Happy New Years M and M. Glad you all had safe travels.
John
Happy New Year to you and Ginger. I think this brie thing would go with whatever you cook in that big green egg!
May even have to try it on the Egg 🙂
Love Deb Perlmann! Food always brings us together in spirit! Happy New Year!
Hugs,
Nan
Happy New Year Nan. I wish I was close enought to hear all about your European vacation.
Hugs to you as well. Mary
Oooh this looks so good. I will definitely make this soon. I also love Smitten Kitchen and use Deb’s website for many new recipes. Happy New Year to you and Mike!
Thanks Bonnie and Happy New Year to you and David. I think you will enjoy the recipe.