TRADITIONAL PORTUGUESE COOKERY offers an overview of the countrie's most popular dishes.
Portugal's geographic situation (really just a narrow strip of land along the coast, only 561 x 218 Km.), suggests immediately a strong influence of the sea.
However, albeit small, the country exhibits a stunning and quite unexpected diverse landscape ad climate variations, reflected inevitably on the produce and therefore the regional food.
Although basically uncomplicated, Portuguese cuisine manages to be very distinctive, imaginative and superbly flavoursome, even when using the humblest of ingredients. In larger cities, some great chefs are coming up with fashionable fusion-versions of some dishes. But fashions come and go and the author, in her hallmark conversational style, has chosen to guide the reader through what has lasted for hundreds of years and will always be there.
The varied characteristics of each region are contextualized in their local food. This is part of their heritage, defining the very soul of the people and  of each place, which doesn't of course preclude the personal touch of creativity.
Honouring  those who are being introduced to Portuguese cooking perhaps for the first time, the recipes are presented as simply as possible, without distorting  their representative taste. This is facilitated by information on the most important ingredients and how to acquire or even replace them (and here the reader may indeed need to exercise his or her bit of innovation...).
This overview of Portuguese cuisine includes some facts relating to the excellent table wines, as well as the legendary ports and madeiras, and how to learn more about them. 

Edite Vieira Phillips started a career in radio early in life (Lisbon,  Mozambique, Madrid) and later, when deciding to establish herself in Britain, with her family, over 40 years ago, continued to work on radio, this time with the World Service of the BBC (in Portuguese). In the late 80's she initiated a simultaneous career as an author, and has now an extensive body of work, in Portuguese and English, covering various subjects but with a special focus on gastronomy. Her classic best-seller, The Taste of Portugal (1988), with various editions and reprints, has versions also in portuguese and dutch (Roteiro da Cozinha Portuguesaand De Portugese Keuken).

Esta edição especial em língua inglesa propõe os principais e mais representativos pratos da cozinha tradicional portuguesa.
O peixe é preponderante, dada a forte presença do mar. A diversidade da paisagem e das culturas, aliada a uma enorme capacidade criativa de cariz local, explica a riqueza e em simultâneo a especificidade da cozinha regional.
Para facilitar a prática a autora sugere ao leitor/a toda a informação útil sobre os ingredientes e a sua eventual substituição.
Os vinhos de mesa portugueses ganham estatuto e merecido prestígio internacional. São feitas algumas sugestões, não esquecendo os lendários Porto e Madeira. 

A autora, Edite Vieira Phillips, reside na Grã-Bretanha há 40 anos, tendo exercido a sua actividade na rádio, no Serviço Mundial da BBC, profissão que abraçou desde muito jovem em Lisboa, Moçambique e Madrid.
No âmbito da gastronomia é extensa a lista de obras publicadas de que destacamos: O Livro do Chá, Saladas de Todo o Ano, Receitas Rápidas, O Peixe à sua Mesa, Licores - Segredo e Tradição, Chocolate - Alimento dos Deuses(na Colares Editora).
O seu best-seller clássico Taste of Portugal, com várias edições e reimpressões, tem igualmente versões em português e holandês
(Roteiro da Cozinha Portuguesa e De Portugese Keuken).