Sardines and Soft Eggs
Last time we scooted through Lisbon airport, we spotted the shop selling a wide variety of canned fish. What better souvenir or take-home gift than a tin of sardines? Or maybe not…however decorative, it’s still a tin of sardines, isn’t it?! Anyway, I had the idea of taking a closer look last Sunday morning, before another, more attractive shop caught my eye and piqued my curiosity.
Photograph from onde estamos – Confeitaria Peixinho
I’m always fascinated by these local specialities and whilst my Hero enjoyed the opportunity to take a few minutes break and sit watching the world go by, I left my bag, took my wallet and went to investigate. The assistant was fluent in English (thank goodness) but beyond saying that these special delicacies would last five days and should not be put in the fridge, her advice was primarily how delicious they tasted with a cup of unsweetened tea, Looking at the variety of packages, I asked about the choices I had - flavours, perhaps? No, all the boxes and bags contained the same product, regardless of the design or colour. Every one of them contained the same Ovos Moles, an eggy speciality from Aveiro.
Of course, I bought a box to bring home.
The small box was tightly packed with 500g of these “soft eggs” and we hadn’t been home long before I was eager to open it up and give one a try.
Inside was a variety of shapes, admittedly not so appetising in appearance! There were nuts, barrels and fish, just as I’d seen on the counter in the airport.
Inside the papery shell was a soft yellow paste. Not particularly sweet, nor as almondy as I imagined, but a soft textured filling, best described as “eggy”. Delicious? Maybe not quite so, but interesting and though I didn’t immediately reach for a second one, neither did I regret my purchase. With our next cups of tea, we had another and yes, it was a good combination.
I quite liked the design on the lining of the box and googled to find out more about it. In doing so, I learned more about these traditional confections. To summarise, they originated in a religious communities, just like the Pasteis de Nata , a more familiar Portuguese eggy speciality. Both were created to make use of the vast quantities of the egg yolks which remained when the egg whites had been used to starch religious garments. The “shell” on the Ovos Moles was made from a similar recipe to communion wafers, another link to their origin. There’s further details of how they’re made here, which could prove useful next time I have eighty egg yolks going spare.
Though this was our first taste of an Ovos Mole, a quotation on the side of the box offers a literary link to their heritage. The author, José Maria de Eça de Queiroz was not familiar to me but I soon learned of his reputation as a great Portuguese writer and immediately fell down the rabbit hole of links that these “quick” searches lead to.
When I stopped by the store in the airport last week, who knew what would result from that small purchase? So much more satisfying than a tin of sardines, wouldn’t you say?
