The one bright star in the firmament of Portuguese food options on our recent trip to Portugal was the Magnum Bar. We've seen Magnums in other European countries but the Double Caramel will for us, forever be associated with Portugal. When the bar melts slightly, the caramel becomes gooey and luscious and becomes the perfect, sweet foil for the dark chocolate.
I had grown up thinking that my Portuguese side of the family just didn't know how to cook, but it turns out that my grandmother and aunts cooked Portuguese fare perfectly by boiling the life out of all vegetables and failing to use spices for punctuation, along with overcooking any and all meats and poultry. As a result of this culinary failing, we decided to skip all lunches and simply eat a Magnum. It was the meal we looked forward to the most. When an aquaintance asked my husband what he thought of the food in Portugal, he smiled and told the man that he especially liked the lunches...it's our little joke.
