December
by Adriana · 18 June 2026 · Cooking, Food & Lifestyle
Porto in December — high Douro, fado drifting from somewhere, chestnuts on Rua de Santa Catarina. Amália Rodrigues sang this feeling. What to eat: caldo verde, bacalhau com natas, arroz doce in two stages. Adriana looks forward to it every October. That seems like the right relationship with your work.
Porto in December is when the city belongs to itself again. The Douro is grey and high from the autumn rains. The port wine lodges across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia put their lights on early. The chestnuts appear on Rua de Santa Catarina, which smells in December of roasting chestnuts and damp stone and sometimes fado drifting from somewhere you can't locate. Amália Rodrigues sang about this feeling — not Porto specifically, but you hear it in the older recordings, the particular weight of grey water and old streets.
What to eat in December: anything braised, anything slow. Caldo verde with good chouriço. Bacalhau com natas if someone you trust made it. Arroz doce at the end, made with lemon zest and cinnamon added in two separate stages so the flavours don't collapse into each other.
I've cooked December food in this restaurant for twenty-three years. I still look forward to it every October when the weather turns. That seems like the right relationship with your work.
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