The Portuguese Empire and overseas interestsRed - actual possessions
Olive - exploration
Orange - areas of influence and trade
Pink - claims of sovereignty
Green - trading posts;
Blue - main sea explorations, routes and areas of influence.
The former Portuguese Empire was the first global empire in history and it's cuisine has both given and taken from it's former colonies. In the 15th century, Portuguese traders bought sweet oranges from India, where previously Southern Europe had only grown the Persian orange, which was bitter. Some South Eastern Indo-European dialects actually name the orange after Portugal, as Portugal was their main source of imports. Some examples are Bulgarian portokal, Greek portokali, Persian porteghal, and Romanian portocala. In the Neapolitan dialect (South Italian), orange is named portogallo or purualle, which literally translated to "the Portuguese ones". Other related names are found in Turkish portakal, Arabic al-burtuqal, Amharic birtukan, and Georgian phortokhali.
Spices were imported from Asia, including cinnamon, which is used in a lot of traditional Portuguese deserts. "Canja", which is a chicken broth with rice is very similar to the Asian congee, suggesting it may be been taken back to Portugal from the East.
King Charless II married the Portuguese Princess, Catherine of Brazanza, and in the 1660s tea, originally from the colony of Macau, became fashionable in Britain after she bought it to court. Portuguese influences are found throughout the Brazilian cuisine, which have their own versions of classics such as feijoada (beef, pork and bean stew) and caldeirada (mixed fish stew). In Goa, vindaloo derives from the Portuguese dish "Carne de Vinha d' Alhos", a dish of lamb, wine and garlic.
In 1543 Portuguese trade ships went to Japan and then introduced the then luxury product, sugar, and was enjoyed as the confectionery by Japanese aristocracy. This was the Japanese era of Nanban trade and was when Tempurawas introduced by early Portuguese missionaries. There is still today a dish in Portugal very similar to tempura called peixinhos da horta, "garden fishes."
