I had no idea that June the 10th was Portugal Day until I noticed the notorious Azorean-American food writer
post something about it the other evening. My half-Portuguese friend Craig has never once mentioned this holiday in the 35 years I’ve known him, which is surprising, considering his typical quickness to let me know whether or not a thing is Lusitanian in origin.The official name of this major holiday is Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas, which translates to “Day of Portugal, Camões and Portuguese communities”. It feels like an awful lot to pack into one day of public joy and the day’s name could certainly do with a slight re-branding but fortunately, I enjoy celebrating complicated anniversaries and Craig is excellent at naming things.
The Camões in question is Luís Vaz de Camões, Portugal’s answer to Shakespeare, Dante, and Virgil all rolled neatly into a single, one-eyed 16th Century globe-trotting package. It is this man’s death day (June 10th) which is celebrated by Portuguese communities around the world, which seems a bit harsh, but if you’ve ever sat through a 90 minute fado performance in the ballroom of a major hotel chain in Santa Fe, New Mexico, you’ll know that the Portuguese have a streak of melancholy running through their culture, so it does make sense. And it is glorious.
But today, dear readers, is not a history lesson. It is an excuse to drink.
There are multiple beverages with which a person could celebrate Portugal Day, but I’m going with Porto Tonico.
I have no idea when it was created, but it would appear that American food bloggers all “discovered” this beverage in 2021 and spread the fizzy-quinine-and-fortified-wine gospel one SEO search word and overly-styled photo at a time. I pored over several, but was dubious. Can one really trust the taste and culinary accuracy of someone who refers to an after dinner drink as an “aperitif”?
I should very much hope not.
My own introduction to the Porto Tonico was the result of a trip to Portugal at the beginning of summer a few years ago, but the trip wasn’t mine. Rather, it was another Michael— a gentleman wine buyer for my favorite small scale booze emporium in San Francisco, D&M Liquors. We chatted about his quick tasting jaunt and I asked him for some of the highlights.
“Well, all the kids are drinking white port and tonic this summer,” he replied and shortly thereafter handed me a bottle of Niepoort dry white, which I accepted because I generally tend to buy whatever the man tells me to because he is a professional who knows his digestivi from his aperitivi. I asked him what was in a “white port & tonic”, to which he responded, “White port and tonic. With a slice of lemon” in a way that suggested that he was doing his best to hide the fact that I’d just slipped down a few rungs on his ladder of estimation by asking something so obvious.
A few days later, armed only with a shopping bag full of the above-mentioned ingredients and a very special cheese ball about which I will write in the future, I showed up at the door of my cousins’ home and somehow managed to fool them into thinking I was an epicurean sophisticate for at least an hour.
I have been a fan of this drink ever since.
And I am so glad I have found an official holiday on which to consume it. If you’re fortunate enough in terms of time management skills and product availability. You can toast the one-eyed hero of the Portuguese language on his very special death day, too.
Porto Tonico
According to Michael (and port producers’ websites), the three traditional ingredients of a porto tonico are white port, tonic water, and lemon. Many people like a sprig of mint to add a bit of coolness and color. Others like to switch up the citrus, using lime or orange, depending on their mood. One person I found used grapefruit and is therefore to be avoided. As is anyone who tells you its ok to put rosemary sprigs in a drink. A bit of riffing on a recipe can be fun and produce excellent results, but please don’t become know as “that monster who thinks cilantro is a cocktail garnish.”
Faz: Um coquetel
Ingredientes:
• 1 part dry white port
• 2 parts tonic water
• Lots of ice (this is a “beat the heat” beverage, however European)
• Lemon slices or wedges for garnish
Preparação:
Fill a highball glass with ice.
Pour in the port first, tonic second. Stir gently and garnish with lemon.
Put on your favorite Cristina Branco album, cover your right eye in recognition of the famous
birthdaydeathday boy, and drink as responsibly or irresponsibly as you please.
The perfect cocktail recipe for my household, where we are quite fond of one-eyed gentlemen and anything (gentleman or not) garnished with or tasting of lemon!
Frank Zappa doing the Beach Boys doing WPLJ.
https://youtu.be/fb3Cu_Xrt_g?si=rf6nzSdCDgooMoWI