Escape from NJ

It is said that the months without an “r” in them are the best time of the year to eat snails in Portugal. That would be May, June, July, and August. April to May would be the rainy season which brings these slippery little guys from below the earth to the ground where you can see them crawling all over the place. Anytime right after it rains you can see them climbing leaves, walls of houses, and slithering along the sidewalks.  You see people in the fields filling up sacs of these things. I have picked countless numbers of these little guys off the pavement and put them up on a wall or in a bush as to not get crushed.  But what is my fascination with them? I just do not know.

The most popular are the caracóis which I do not like to eat. They are the really tiny snails that you see all over the fields, sidewalks, and plants as seen below:  

They are boiled in olive oil, garlic, oregano,  bay leaf, some hot pepper powder, and onion. I am sure there are variations but this is the one I see the most. And people here love them! Once May rolls around every restaurant and café you walk by has a sign reading “Há Caracóis” which is basically “there are snails”.  Now I am not particular to these at all even though I have tried them several times. There is something about the snails mixed with these ingredients and the smell that just turns my stomach. Which is strange because I cook with these ingredients all the time. But the combo is not good for me. Also when you boil them the snail sort of peeks out and dangles and you can still see it’s face. I just have an issue with seeing faces when I eat. Now I got over this with fish and shrimp, though I do not eat the heads on either animal. But anytime I try to put it past me and put one in my mouth, all I see is face! So forget it.

The ones I like, that I think are so much better and worth the time to eat are the larger snails, or escargot as us Americans know it. A popular way to do them here, and how we did them yesterday is to simply salt them and throw them on the grill. Then they make a special dipping sauce which consists of butter, lemon, oregano, and garlic. You just pull out the snail from the shell and dip it into the sauce and eat! Add some buttered toast and some cold beers and vóila! This is definitely the better way to go, to me, anyway.

I also learned that there is a proper procedure to go through before one can eat the snails. When you catch them you are supposed to contain them for a few days and feed them one last time so that they can “clean” themselves out before ending up on your dinner plate. There is a rhyme and reason to everything here. The fun part for me has been unlocking some of these secrets!

Below is some of my snail photography. I love to photograph these lil’ suckers. 

So last week I got to get the hell out of the house and enjoy a girl’s night out in the city with my friend Sónia. We went to see The Lisbon Players perform three different plays, all in English.

A little background information about the Lisbon Players from their site:

Situated in the heart of the Estrela district, the Lisbon Players’ Theatre is a welcoming but little known theatre space which has been providing a varied repertoire of plays in English to Lisbon audiences for over sixty years.

The Estrela Hall was built in 1906 and converted into a theatre with the establishment of The Lisbon Players in 1947. It was originally connected to the group of British organizations that occupy the site which adjoins the British church and cemetery. Estrela Hall is still remembered by some older Lisboetas as the venue for the showing of anti-Nazi propaganda films during the war, when the building was commandeered by the British Embassy. It was also used by the prestigious Companhia Amélia Rey Colaço/Robles Monteiro when it was homeless, and before it took up permanent residence in the Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II . 

If you want to keep reading, then click here:

http://www.lisbonplayers.com.pt/site/about-us

Basically it’s a group of people that perform plays in English so it was perfect for me! In fact, I heard so much English that night it was almost daunting. I think I may have forgotten where I was for a hot second.  The place is called Estrela Hall and is a tiny performance hall.  When you walk in it reminds you of one of those library bars in NYC with old furniture, decorations, and a slew of old literature contained in old book cases.  People greeted us right away and there was a bar that sold wine, beer, and other assorted alcohol fit with a English speaking Dutch-man.

My friend knew one of the guys that was in the first performance called The Box. This play is about an American and a Brit that share a box seat at the Opera, Madame Butterfly. Basically the American spends most of him time explaining to the Brit why buying a box seat is better. I absolutely loved it! I met the actor playing the American before the show and he was great. He has been performing with the Lisbon Players for years. I couldn’t believe how well he spoke the language. I mean he spoke English better than actual Americans I have met. I told him I would be watching him and “paying close attention” to his performance.  As a visiting American I had to make sure we were portrayed the right way. We had a nice laugh at that. I have to say there were certain segments where I found myself sinking into my chair and thinking, “Oh my God, he did not, he did not just say that!” There was one point where he became angry at his British friend and went into a rant that consisted of “…God damn it, cock sucker, mother fucker!…” I had belt out laughing because I am so guilty of spewing out these words myself in the exact same order. After the show I got to meet his wife who actually wrote the play and I had to congratulate her for getting that bit down. She had told me they really wanted him to have a Boston accent but that they didn’t know if it would translate well to the crowd. Kudos to her for her writing. It was great!

Then there were two more shows. The second was about two English architects that needed to catch a flight to present their designs to a new group of people and all of these things go wrong. This was fun but very avant-garde. There were so many people on the stage at the same time multi tasking and screaming and talking and doing their thing. It reminded me of a typical day of work at my former company, that will remain nameless. I was able to laugh at it but it also made me very uncomfortable. I did enjoy it though. The third and final was written by a Portuguese author who has written four books. This play was a bit macabre but I did enjoy it. It was about a girl, who on the night of her birthday party, witnesses a girl being attacked and defends her by killing her attacker. It was mostly done as a soliloquy which made it a bit more intense. I did enjoy this one as well. So all in all we were very lucky because all three performances were very good.

After the show we went back down to the main area to meet up with my friend’s friend who we talked to before the show. We bought some drinks and met more people. I had such a great time. I got to meet people from all over Europe that happened to be living in Portugal. There was so much to talk about. The night could have gone on forever! I loved it!

June brings Romeo and Juliette. I can not wait to go back to this tiny little theatre and see all of these actors perform once again!