(intense music) - My name is Maria Cabral de Pont Lawton and I was born in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on the island of Sao Miguel, Azores, in the village of Rosario de Lagoa, where both sides of my family have lived for several centuries.

Like many families of this generation, we immigrated to America when I was just six years old.

The decision to immigrate is not for the faint of heart.

My father always said how hard of a decision it was to leave his home, and especially his family.

My parents settled in New England to be near my mother's side of the family and siblings.

And just like that, I became a Portuguese American.

What I remember most about growing up in a Portuguese family was that food was a way to show love, kindness and friendship.

I have fond memories of sitting at the table after dinner talking and laughing for hours.

Recreating and preserving that time in my life led me to write my first cookbook based on my family recipes, special dishes and my experiences around that table with my family.

Now with this new television series, I have a way to share my passion for food and my culture with the rest of the world.

(upbeat music) Being Portuguese and growing up in America is something that I'm so proud of and what better way to start our series off than with a look at the origins of the Portuguese experience in America.

To do this, we head to Providence, Rhode Island, to a campus of Rhode Island College for a little education from Marie Fraley, director of the Institute for Portuguese and Lusophone Studies.

I just want to say thank you.

Thank you for taking the time today to meet with me because being here in Rhode Island is kind of special to me.

It makes sense to me, it's the Portuguese Bakeries, it's the Portuguese little shops.

So I appreciate you being here today to kind of tell us about the Portuguese in Rhode Island.

And we've been here for a long time, haven't we?

- Oh, we certainly have.

A very fascinating history and when you say we've been here a long time, we really have.

It's the smallest state in the Union, but we have the highest percentage of Portuguese in the country, per capita.

- [Maria] Travel through Rhode Island towns like East Providence, Pawtucket, Warwick and Bristol and you won't have to look far to see the thriving Portuguese community and it's impact on the history of the state, dating back as far as the late 17th Century.

We came as whalers, fishermen and farmers looking for a better way of life.

- Whaling was a huge, huge attraction and they would be on these whaling ships for two, three years, but then there was a migration from Massachusetts into eastern Rhode Island where some of the Azoreans then took up farming.

That was the attraction, because if you could have your own plot of land, that was huge.

Because they didn't in the Azores, they were tenant farmers.

Following that era, you're going into the beginning of the 1900's, but what brought them, it was definitely the textile mill, and they were willing to work.

- [Maria] It was the hard work and determination that those Portuguese immigrants possessed in the textile mills that has lifted the Portuguese American experience to where it is today.

The Portuguese contributed to communities not only in Rhode Island, but across the country.

It's all rooted in the traditions, heritage, and the love we all grew up with.

Did you grow up with the traditions?

Portuguese traditions?

- Yes, vovo made massa.

It was always a small loaf for each of the grandchildren with a hard-boiled egg in it.

- Egg inside, yep.

- And then the larger one for the family.

And I remember the first time that my madrinha and I went to Sao Miguel.

It was like a piece of the puzzle of my life fell into place.

- Isn't that something?

- It was, oh, this is where I'm from, this is where I belong.

- [Maria] Yeah, and you feel at home.

- [Marie] It's a wonderful feeling.

- [Maria] Yes, it is.

My time with Marie was a joy, but it was time to go out and explore a little of Rhode Island to see the influence of my Portuguese heritage firsthand.

We know that the story of the Portuguese people goes way back in Rhode Island history, but where are we today?

What are the Portuguese Americans doing now?

Well, I think I found my answer in the heart of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, in the form of a one of a kind food truck.

Hey there, how are you?

- How are you?

- I'm fine, thank you so much.

Levi Medina is the proprietor of the Portu-Galo food truck, and today he's set up in downtown Providence in Lincoln Square.

His passion for cooking led him to pursue a unique way to bring Portuguese food to the masses.

So Levi, what motivated you to start the truck?

- Well, I've always loved cooking, since I was probably 11, 12 years old.

It's always been a passion of mine.

- [Maria] Yeah?

- [Levi] Always wanted to get into the food industry, wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do in the food business but we were the first ones with a Portuguese food truck, kind of rode the wave of the food trucks becoming popular across the whole country, but this was the first Portuguese food truck.

It's a beautiful day in Providence.

- [Maria] It is a beautiful day in Providence.

- [Levi] It's a beautiful city.

So we should get pretty busy for lunch today.

- All right Levi, so what are you going to have me do today?

What are we doing?

- So we'll start off with marinating some bifana sandwiches- - [Maria] Oh, beautiful.

- Which is pork loin, I'll have you do that for us.

In a few minutes, we'll be ready to open up.

- Oh okay, all right, so let's go do this.

I can't wait, I can't wait.

With a lunch crowd already milling around, we had no time to waste.

Levi had to get me up to speed on prepping the lunch rush and it all starts with the marinade.

- All right, so we have some really lean pork loin.

We only use pork loin for our sandwiches, virtually zero fat.

So we'll start with some fresh garlic.

- You're gonna add garlic, I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

- Some Portuguese crushed pepper paste, a couple secret spices that I'll leave behind, but- - 'Cause it is a secret.

There's a reason why people line up for your food here.

- Not too spicy, but just enough.

- And then?

- And then a little bit of salt.

- [Maria] Because you've got the pimenta moida, which brings in salt.

- [Levi] Has also salt, yes, correct.

- And then, mix all together.

Okay, and there it is.

And that's all you do?

- Very basic, very simple.

Yeah, we'll start making some sandwiches, I'm sure some people will start lining up in a few minutes.

- Okay.

- And once we cook the pork loin, we'll add a couple toppings on it depending on what sandwich they order.

We've got the Porto Galo bifana, top it with a garlic aioli and caramelized onion.

- Nice.

- That's like my little twist on the bifana.

And then we have a Lisbon, which is straight mustard and onion.

And then we have the St. Michael.

This one's gonna have hot peppers on it and some mixed greens since the island is still green.

- [Maria] Ha ha, I love it.

Little did I know that marinating would be the easiest thing I would do.

Once the truck opened for business, Levi had the ill-advised idea for me to work the register and take orders.

- All right Maria, you ready to work?

We have a line now so we need you to start.

- Oh my God, I'm gonna screw this up.

You're gonna be my guinea pig, are you okay?

What would you like, honey?

Brava fries?

- [Levi] Yeah, Brava fries are french fries topped with a garlic aioli and a spicy sauce.

Her name, please?

- Oh, your name?

My next victim, yes?

Which sandwich?

Oh, wrong one.

Okay, the pressure, I don't know if I can do this.

And I have no idea.

I'm messing up.

Hi hon, I'm so sorry I'm taking so long.

- One, two, three, four, five, yep.

- So, three, four, five, okay.

Christina?

That was Christina.

It didn't take long for Levi to realize that my talents would be best served on the grill and I got to learn what 's like to cook in a food truck.

- [Levi] Crack an egg.

- [Maria] Okay.

- [Levi] They're kind of hot, so be careful.

We'll hit it with a little canola oil.

Just flatten it out a little bit, yeah.

- I wanna flip it now.

- [Levi] Perfect.

And then we'll just- - Move that egg.

- [Levi] Careful, it might be hot.

All right, on the truck we actually crack them a little.

- [Maria] Oh, you do?

- [Levi] Just so when you bite into the sandwich you have a little egg yolk throughout the whole sandwich.

- Oh, okay.

Two of them there?

- [Levi] Yep.

- Can I do that, too?

- [Levi] Right on top of the... - I did it.

- You did it, yeah.

- I did it, yay!

- Oh, you're a professional, so... - I'm gonna hand it back to you.

- Sure, thank you.

- Finally, it was my turn to try one of those delicious bifana sandwiches, and Levi didn't make me choose.

We got to sit down with all three styles.

- [Levi] Three different bifanas.

- [Maria] Okay.

- So we have the Lisbon here.

- Now, which one is the best seller?

- The Portu-Galo.

- Which is your trademarked... - Yeah, the garlic aioli and caramelized onions.

And then second is actually the St. Michael.

It's a little spicy, but- - [Maria] It's a little spicy?

- [Levi] I think you can handle it.

- You think I can?

- Yeah, I think so.

- I don't know, do you know me that well?

I don't know, Levi.

- [Levi] I'll take a bite of the Portu-Galo.

- [Maria] Okay, perfect.

Oh, I can see the peppers already in there.

- [Levi] How is it?

- Whoa, there is a kick.

- Yeah, it's a little spicy.

- It is a kick.

You were not kidding, that's good.

You know, this is supposed to be our fast food.

This is good food.

- Yeah, it's good food fast, right?.

- Yes, it is.

That's a perfect way to say it.

- Maybe you would try the Lisbon next since it's kind of very different from the St. Michael.

It's got yellow mustard on it.

- It's yellow mustard and caramelized onions.

- Yep, but you can get it however you want off the truck.

We're flexible with that.

It's gonna taste very different than the St. Michael.

- Oh yeah, oh, but that's really good.

- Yeah, it gives it a different profile.

- I mean, you've got the nice mustard taste in there, and the onions are just smooth.

- Yep, the onions are just like, keeps the sandwich- - Like kind of cool it off.

That's a beautiful combination.

- [Levi] Yeah, thank you.

- This one is... - [Levi] Best seller, most popular.

- I'm gonna pull through here.

- Everybody loves the garlic sauce that we do.

- Best seller.

- I'll take a bite with you as well.

- Really good.

I can see why.

I mean, I'm from St. Michael, I love St. Michael.

- Yeah, St. Michael's better for people that really like a kick to their sandwich.

- You know what?

It's three great sandwiches you have here.

- Thank you.

- It's a whole different take.

- Yep, like I said, it's Portugal's national sandwich but we're the only ones in the area that actually do specialize on bifana sandwich.

- The Portuguese influence can be seen all over the state of Rhode Island.

The coastal towns and vistas of the mighty Atlantic allowed many Portuguese immigrants to feel right at home here in Rhode Island, creating a lasting connection between this state and our Portuguese ancestry.

Nowhere is that better displayed than at the Portuguese Discovery Monument at the tip of Aquidneck Island located in Newport, Rhode Island.

Dedicated to the Portuguese maritime navigators, this monument was designed by Charters de Almeida and was carved in Portugal.

It resembles an old navigation tool and compass.

It is a striking and beautiful tribute to the seafaring adventurers.

Pawtucket, Rhode Island is not only home to many families of Portuguese descent, it is also where you can find one of the best Portuguese stews in all of Rhode Island.

Tugas restaurant is not the oldest Portuguese restaurant around, but it's making quite a name for itself.

I went to find out what the fuss was all about and it's there that I met Sandy.

Thank you for having me, this is beautiful here.

- Oh, thank you.

Welcome, welcome.

- Yeah, so tell me a little bit about this place.

- So, we're a Portuguese restaurant.

We like to mix in Mediterranean food and American cuisine.

- I have to tell you, when I knew I was gonna be filming in Rhode Island, I put the call out, like I need a good restaurant that I can go into, who can I cook with, or who should I talk to?

And your name kept coming up all the time, so whatever you're doing, you're doing a great job.

- Thank you to everybody that did that.

- [Maria] You ready?

- I'm ready.

- Let's go!

Let's do this.

On the menu is carne estufada, a traditional stew with origins in both the Azores and the mainland Portugal, but Sandy does this dish her way, Tugas style.

All right, so Sandy what are we doing today?

- So, we're going to make carne estufada.

- Oh, I love carne estufada.

- It's my favorite.

(lively music) - How do we get started?

- We need a nice piece of meat.

You always wanna make this bone-in because the marrow definitely throws in a little bit more flavor.

We have our own seasoning.

Salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper and garlic powder.

That's all you need to make your food taste good.

I hope that you would agree.

- [Maria] I agree.

- [Sandy] What I like to do is rub it with the garlic olive oil, which I use religiously in almost every single dish that we use at Tugas.

And you see by the marbling in this, and all that fat.

- [Maria] When you're making something like this you want it to have that extra marbling.

You want it to have that fat.

- [Sandy] And all that flavor is gonna seep into that meat.

- [Maria] Absolutely.

- So I've got about an onion.

- [Maria] Just one onion's enough?

- [Sandy] I think so.

- Okay.

- For now.

- And olive oil?

- Yes ma'am.

- Okay.

I like a lot of olive oil.

- We're gonna throw some more garlic in there.

- Oh, beautiful, the whole thing?

- [Sandy] I would.

- [Maria] Oh yeah.

- And a couple of bay leaves, if you don't mind.

- [Maria] Yep.

It's over to the stovetop to saute our ingredients.

The aroma of garlic and onions quickly filled the kitchen and our sensory memories kick in.

- [Sandy] And that's the best smell in the world.

- Oh my God, it smells so good.

- It's so welcoming, right?

People walk in and they're like, what is that?

And you're like, onions and olive oil.

- [Maria] And garlic.

- So I'm just gonna place it right on top of our (speaks in foreign language) if you were Spanish.

So, for me, particularly, I like to put mushrooms, and you can use a shiitake but we're using white button today.

I like to add fresh carrots, and I like to add chourico.

About a half a cup of red wine vinegar, and this is, of course, pimenta moida.

- [Maria] Yes, we're gonna make it hot.

- [Sandy] So, we're gonna add a cup of water.

If you don't add water, it'll be winy.

- [Maria] Oh, okay.

- [Both] And you don't want that.

- And I'm gonna add salt.

Today's particular case we're using the tomato sauce, a quarter of a can.

- So now that everything is in the pot now, we're going to bring it up to a boil, correct?

And then we're gonna lower it to a simmer?

'Cause that's usually what happens.

- Yes.

- And then, how long do you like to cook it for?

- 45 minutes to an hour.

- Beautiful.

So now we're gonna let this be.

It's steaming.

Oh, wow, that looks beautiful.

Can smell the garlic, the wine, the onion.

It's just all real good.

- (speaking foreign language) - A little.

Oh my, we're sharing this, correct?

- No.

- Yes we are, we're both tasting it.

- Yeah, well no, I mean we are sharing the pot but I get half of it and you get the other half.

- It's the wine talking now.

- So your mom would serve it over boiled potatoes, which we would too, but we'll say mashed potatoes.

- Yeah, or roasted.

- Roasted.

But I have a feeling that this looks very different than what you would have.

You did (speaking foreign language).

- Yes.

- Which is Azorean style.

- Right.

My mom would add a little bit, in this meat, a little bit of cinnamon.

That's the only difference.

Yeah, that's the only difference in the seasoning that you have versus what my mom would make.

She would add just a little tiny, little bit.

Let's get a knife and fork, and let's get into this.

And guys, I'm gonna have to taste this, this is something that I have to do now.

Do you mind?

- No, you first.

- I'm going in first.

We're sharing, we're sharing a plate.

We're doing it, I'm going in.

- Oh yeah, you need that sauce and that potato.

- [Maria] Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

- Steaming hot.

- That is amazing.

- Aww, thank you.

- Okay, I'm not gonna eat this all by myself here.

- See, if I was gonna eat this bone-in... - Yeah, you're gonna be picking it up.

- It would be in my hand, so I'm gonna try to eat like a lady.

- We have to eat like a lady, Sandy.

- All right.

- You know, we have to be good.

- See, you gotta try that, look at that.

- Oh, nice.

And I like the, the mushrooms are amazing in it.

Now see, my mom never had mushrooms in it, but this is a definite.

Wow, that's really good.

Right now, the camera men and the crew all around me, they're all going nuts because they're saying, Maria, hurry up 'cause we wanna have some.

But you know what?

I'm gonna keep going.

Yeah, this is awesome.

- Now you have to try the chourico, now that it's been cooking in those spices.

I've just had another little - And yopiecew what?

of the other side of the meat, and it was even more tender than this one.

- Right, because you have the... - The bone on that one.

- Right.

- Okay, this is the homemade chourico?

- Right chourico (speaking foreign language).

- Wow.

- It's almost like a cozido yeah.

- Yeah, it's smoked.

Oh, honey.

This has been fantastic.

- Thank you.

- I can't thank you enough for letting us, letting us in your kitchen, number one.

- Yes, so exciting.

- Showing us how you make this amazing dish, and now we can all make it in our homes.

And I can't thank you enough, Sandy, I can't.

- [Both] Drink.

- Ching ching?

- Ching ching.

- Ching ching.

- [Maria] There are common threads when you think about a Portuguese neighborhood.

Most of them will have at least one Portuguese restaurant, a Portuguese social club, a church, and maybe the most important thread of all, the neighborhood bakery.

Rhode Island has its fair share of bakeries, and with just one smell you get transported back to the old country, to where the freshest of breads, like the world famous bolos levedos are made.

It was time to do a little baking of my own, a family staple growing up, the bolos levedos.

Today, I have a very special treat for you.

We are going to be making bolos levedos.

We were in St. Michael and we saw the ladies making those bolos levedos, and then I got to enjoy some of it.

Well, the thing is is you can make bolos levedos at home.

Before we start making the bolos levedos, we've gotta work on the yeast, and the way to do it, regular yeast, you're gonna add the sugar to it.

We have warm water, and we're gonna whisk that together.

There's some people that just like to spoon it together, I kinda like to whisk it together and make sure that it dissolves a little bit in there.

We're going to whip up these six eggs with some sugar, and we're gonna start whipping up these babies, and we're gonna add sugar to this.

This is gonna be easy, and if you follow these directions you're gonna be able to do this for your family.

My two sisters married two brothers, and this is their mom's recipe, Joselina Pimental.

And Joselina Pimental is from Sao Miguel, from the village of Povoçao.

This is nice and whipped, and once again, we're going to kind of leave this to the side as we go on to the next phase.

What you're gonna do is you're gonna put your flour here and you're gonna make a well.

You're gonna push up the flour, off to the side, and you're gonna create an opening here, 'cause I have a cup of milk that I've warmed up with a stick of butter, which is a quarter cup of butter.

I'm gonna stir that, and we're gonna pour right in the center of the well.

You're going to add half a teaspoon of warm water into a half a teaspoon of salt, into the liquid.

This is the way to get it so that salt gets into all of the dough.

The other thing we're gonna be adding, zest of a lemon.

Look how beautiful that is.

I'm getting all excited just showing this to you.

There it is.

Now that we've added the zest, we're gonna start now getting really down and dirty in here.

So, hand in the center, and I'm gonna move it around.

It's a very sticky dough, so don't be afraid of that.

We're gonna keep adding more liquid, the creamed eggs with sugar, in there.

And we're gonna add that right in there.

And you know what?

I could get a spatula and make this nice and clean, but y?

I mean, I'm using my hands.

Back again.

Working it in.

If you wanna know where vovo, or grandma, got her strength, it was right here, kneading dough to make breads like bolos levedos or sweet bread.

It's a chore sometimes done best with a helping hand.

I remember my mom making this, it wasn't a single batch like this little half-batch.

It would be the bigger one, using the five pound bag, and she would either hold this down and my dad would be in there working the dough, or she would be doing it and she would have one of us holding this down to use both hands.

This is why you don't mess with a Portuguese woman.

They've been doing this.

We've got nice strong arms here.

Now, the dough is well-kneaded and very sticky.

We sprinkle some flour around the dough and cover it to allow it to rise.

The first rise can take several hours.

After the first rise, we roll the dough into smaller balls, place on a cookie sheet, and wait for the second rise.

So now, what we're gonna do is we're just going to cover this up with saran wrap, put a towel over it, keep it in a nice warm place, and we're just gonna let it do what it needs to do.

We actually waited two hours.

I had the saran wrap over it, and now it's a little sticky.

And this is the reason why I always put a little bit of flour on the very top.

Look how beautiful they are, they're all risen, they're all a little puffy and this is perfect.

This is how we want it.

There are several ways you can make bolos levedos.

The traditional way, with a cast iron skillet, or the more modern way, using an electric skillet.

Today, I'm gonna go old school with my bolos levedos.

There is no oil on this, this is just a hot skillet with flour.

Okay, and we're gonna put that down.

I'm gonna do another one, like that.

All right, let's do a third.

Just shape it the way you want to.

And then, you're gonna be flipping it over and over again.

Let it puff up, look at that already.

See, a whole different color.

You don't want to rush it 'cause you wanna make sure that the inside gets cooked.

They look so cute.

And if you ever question, when you're making this, if it is done on the inside, you could always do take, just like with a cake tester, and go in and if it comes out wet, it still isn't done.

The thing is is we're using cast iron, and cast iron is a really good heat conductor.

So you've gotta be careful on the stove that you're working with, but for this here, you wanna do it low and slow.

The colors are looking nice, and look how puffy.

So now, look how great these look.

Look at that.

This is, your bolos levedos is done.

We're just gonna put this in the basket with some other ones that I've made before.

Nothing is quick and fast about making bolos levedos, but through hard work and patience, the end result is quite divine.

There are several ways you could enjoy your bolos levedos.

With butter and jam, with some fresh cheese, or even as a sandwich roll.

For me, I like it a little more simple.

So, I've already cut one here, and look at this.

This is like still steamy hot inside.

Personally, I like to eat it with a little bit of butter on it, and when it's fresh I don't toast it.

The next day, it's nice when you toast it.

A little bit of butter and a little bit of jam.

It's really up to you, but bolos levedos at its best, for me, a pat of butter and some jam, and it's the best.

With a nice cup of tea, or a nice mug of coffee, you can't go wrong.

Oh my goodness.

Amazingly delicious.

So good.

It doesn't matter how many times I make bolos levedos, I am transported back to my childhood, to my family kitchen and the smells that remind me of home, of where me and my family come from.

Proof positive that it's the food that connects me to my Portuguese heritage like nothing else.

(mellow music)