Provincetown Portuguese Cookbook

Carne

Partridges Alcântara | Pork with Clams | Minho Style | Pork Chops with Port Wine Sauce | Pork Stuffed with Clams | Baked Smoked Shoulder and Rice | Portuguese Chicken | Empanada de Galinha | Chicken with Peas | Louise's Portuguese Paella | Portuguese Skewers of Beef | Chuck Roast | Chuck Roast Portuguese Style | Alcatra à la Rita | Alcatra à Moda Mariana | Mariana's Portuguese Style Chuck Roast | Feijoada | Cocoila

Porco com Amêijoas

Napi's Restaurant

Helen Van Dereck, Executive Chef

Provincetown native, sailor and bon vivant Napi Van Dereck and his chef-wife Helen, opened Napi's Restaurant 22 years ago. With lots of imagination and one of the best art collections in Provincetown, they converted an old garage into one of Provincetown's most interesting restaurants. Serving local Portuguese favorites, lots of fresh seafood, vegetarian dishes and foods acquired from their travels around the world, the menu at Napi's is as diverse and eclectic as the Van Derecks themselves.

This is the dish that everyone who has ever visited Portugal has eaten at least once. A great dish to serve at a special dinner party, porco com amêijoas is a traditional dish from the Alentejo region of Portugal. It is a succulent and unusual blend of pork and the tiny little clams for which Portugal is renowned. I first ate this dish at the famous Restaurant Aviz in Lisbon. It's a meal I have never forgotten.

Chef Helen recommends preparing the pork the day before you plan serving it. The pork must marinate overnight for the dish to attain its full impact.

2 lbs. pork tenderloin, cut into 1" pieces

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. chopped garlic, be generous

1 tsp. sweet Hungarian paprika

3/4 cup dry white wine

2 bay leaves, crumbled

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 cup clam stock

36 littleneck clams, scrubbed clean

1 lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

4 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

Toss the pork with one tablespoon oil, the garlic, paprika, wine and bay leaves. Let marinate overnight.

Drain the pork and save the marinade. Heat the oil and brown the pork. Remove the pork from the pan. Reduce the heat and sauté the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Return the pork to the pan and add the clam stock and the remaining marinade. Add the clams and simmer until the clams open. Remove the bay leaves.

Garnish with a generous tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of fresh lemon and the chopped parsley over the dish just before serving.

Serves 6.