WWFB: Azorean Sangria Saves the Day Edition
The scene: A local tavern in Furnas, Sao Miguel, Azores. Sunday night. Our first dinner on the island.
When the menu boasts a liter of sangria for €7, you know that dinner will be juuuuuuuust fiiiiiiine.
And indeed. It was just fine.
Our meal started with some sort of local bread-based delicacy stuffed with garlic and minced pickled peppers and herbs and olive oil and, allegedly, cheese, although I could not detect any. But you know what? With our €7 liter of sangria well in hand, we were frankly not bothered in the least.
Then came our entrees. We ordered the same thing, a traditionally prepared octopus stew. You’ll have to forgive us the matchy-matchy ordering: (1) We’re adorable, deal with it; (2) We fell in love with a traditionally prepared octopus stew a few years ago off the coast of Croatia on the island of Vís, and we’ve been chasing that dragon ever since; and (3) €7 liters of sangria.
We’re still chasing…but you know what? It’s juuuuuust fiiiiine (see #3).
Our entrée rated an “adequate” in my book and a somewhat more favorable appraisal in my husband’s, although if he used an actual word rather than a facial expression, I’m having difficulty recalling it. Listen, I told you from the get-go that I am the World’s Worst Food Blogger, so if you were expecting, I don’t know… specificity?…adjectives?, that’s on you.
Anyhoo. While our entrée lacked a certain je ne sais quois, the wall of wine next to our table MORE THAN MADE UP FOR IT. Amid a broad selection of Portuguese and French wines, we spied these two bottles of bubbly: one clearly marked “WOMAN” and the other “INTENSE.”
I wondered if these were the Portuguese moscato equivalent of those terrifically misguided “Bic Pens — For Her” (a real product, for a while at least; check out the Amazon reviews…pure comedy gold). Alas, we did not have the wherewithal to investigate further on account of all the sangria.
VERDICT: Come for the €7 liters of sangria and the invisible cheese. Stay for more €7 liters of sangria.
Who moved my cheese(bread)? Also: Sangria!
Uh-oh, we’re out of sangria!
Espumante…for her. And Espumante…if you dare.