We parked in their private lot and headed to the back...
of the building...
where you will see this sign:
As our visit was before Thanksgiving, they had flyers (as well as an online announcement on their site) about their sale on wines, bacalhau, and frozen fruit and cheese bread.
Here are a few photos that I snuck in. It's pretty small inside. There The shelf in front had various cookies, crackers, and snacks from Portugal. The shelf next to it had rice and other dry goods.
These were various canned and jarred items like olives, fish, spices, and Knorr bouillon cubes (fish, vegetable and shrimp flavors). There were lots of different sauces next to it, along with a freezer and cold case with drinks.
My neighbor bought some bacalhau (that's the Portuguese spelling; in Spanish it's spelled "bacalao"), dried salted codfish. I've had her cod before and it's amazing when baked with cream and potatoes. Anyhow, this was the bacalhau getting weighed. Later, the fish will have to be cut up and soaked in water for 24 hours with a water change ever four hours. It takes a while to get it softened and de-salted (is that even a word, ha ha). It kind of smelled like cuttlefish but not as strong.
I had a field day looking at all of the different products there. My neighbor as well. She bought many items for her husband, who is of Portuguese descent. She wanted to surprise him for the holidays. The following are photos of the items we brought home like this can of passionfruit flavored Sumol, a Portuguese soda. It comes in pineapple and orange flavors as well. This was TC's can.
The lovely view of San Diego Bay and our skyline as we traveled from Harbor Drive to the Grape Street exit.
As we went up Grape, a plane was preparing to land.
Back at her house, a few bottles of the Casal Garcia wines she bought for the holidays. I believe she bought either three or four of each kind. The first is a rose wine while the second on is a "vinho verde" (green wine), which is quite crisp and refreshing. According to my friend, this is a very old school wine (established in 1939) and a favorite of her father in law as well as her husband. He in fact proposed marriage to her with this wine. I'll have to buy a bottle of each next time I go to this market. The Casal Garcia brand is the most widely sold vinho verde in the world.
She also bought a case of Portuguese beer for her husband, the Super Bock mini's. The bottles are so tiny and cute. I think they are about 7 oz. each. I bought a single mini bottle for Bert. I wonder where she ended up hiding the beers? This brand is the most popular brand of beer in Portugal. These are a lager. Very cute and tiny.
Here's a commercial for the mini's:
Because she bought more than $125 worth of stuff, the people at the market gave her two "gifts", one was the Caboclo coffee (a Brazilian brand), the other, the Predilecta guave paste block (which is also Brazilian). Clockwise from the top: Knorr bouillon "Peixe" ("fish") flavor:, Lenguas de Gato ("cat's tongue" cookies), frozen cod cakes, and chocolate Marias cookies (we'd both never seen this type before, just the plain, so we were excited!). I like making cookie sandwiches with Marias, usually with Nutella or Biscoff spread.
We both got these items from the freezer - Cheese Rolls (Brazilian). One of the packages was in English, the other in Portuguese. I can't wait to make mine. I'm not sure if I have to fry it or if I can bake it instead. I hate frying stuff. These were on sale for $3 a bag. I have no idea if that's a bargain or not, but I wanted to give it a try!
Update - I just baked those cheese rolls earlier this evening and boy were they good! Nice and puffy and cheesefilled!
A close up look of the frozen "pasteles de bacalhau" (cod cakes). They also had shrimp cakes but I wanted the cod since that fish is closely associated with Portuguese food.
And the "peixe" (pronounced "paysh" which means "fish") soup cubes...
Because I thought it was funny, I bought this soda which bears a name that is a Filipino slang word for the vadge, KIKI. Kiki is normally a nickname for Spanish speakers, but for Filipinos who understand the language or who at least know the bad words, that word will most likely make people snicker. I know, toilet humor. It's like that Audi Sports car, the "TT", because in Filipino, the word "titi" (pronounced "tee-tee") is the slang word for the peen! There, now you've learned TWO new Filipino terms for genitalia! You're welcome!
Anyhow, this Kiki soda was orange flavored and very carbonated. It was supersweet, like 41g of sugar!
The folks who work here are super nice! The store is staffed by volunteers of the organization. You can also watch Portuguese TV. When we were there, it was on a funny game show.
United Portuguese S.E.S. Market (located in the very back of the United Portuguese S.E.S. Hall)
2818 Avenida de Portugal
San Diego, CA 92106
(619) 223-5880
Wed & Sat 9 am - 2 pm
Thu & Fri 4 pm - 7 pm
www.upses.com/portuguese-market
I'm definitely coming back here for that green wine!
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