10 Must-Have Items at Portugalia

Paiva-Neves picks the perfect prawn. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

When it comes to stocking up on Portuguese food and drink for O Dinis restaurant and her home, Fall River’s Portugalia is chef Natalia Paiva-Neves’s go-to store. Fernando Benevides originally opened the store thirty years ago across the street to give fellow Portuguese people a taste of home. The store is now managed by his two children, Michael and Jennifer, and they moved to a larger location more than a decade ago to become the largest Portuguese specialty store in the United States. Store sections include baked goods, wine and spirits, prepared foods, tinned fish, a frozen seafood section, dry goods, a cheese and meat counter, pottery section and a temperature-controlled room for salt cod. It is also home to a Portuguese design shop, Artigos, which makes Portuguese art, home goods, fine china, cork products and fashions available for purchase. 

“We come here for nostalgia. Anything I need that’s Portuguese, I know I can get it here,” says Paiva-Neves, O Dinis’ chef and manager. The market has always given her a sense of home, says the Azorean-born and American-raised chef, who moved to East Providence when she was fifteen from the island of São Miguel.

“I feel like I have always been stuck, because I identify as Portuguese, but when I go to Portugal, they don’t see me as Portuguese, they see me as American, and in the United States, I feel like I am an American,” Paiva-Neves says. “But I can’t not have all my culture in me. It’s woven in me.” A trip to Portugalia eases those complex emotions in the form of tinned fish, pastries, bread and more, imported directly from the mainland of Portugal and the Azores. 489 Bedford St., Fall River, Mass., 508-617-9820, portugaliamarketplace.com

Here are some of Paiva-Neves’ favorite items in the store.

Photos by Wolf Matthewson / courtesy of Portugalia. 

Tinned Fish

“This is my first stop, because these are my essentials. The tinned fish is phenomenal here,” she says. “I think I’ve tried every single one and I’ve narrowed it down to the ones I like.” Some of her favorites include Sardinha com aroma de trufa em aziete (sardine in olive oil with truffle flavor) and Conservos Santos Barrigas de Atum em Oleo Vegetal (tuna belly in vegetable oil). “Take this whole can, get a baguette, spread it on there,” she says. “I can glorify a tin of fish like nobody’s business.”

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Canned Fish

“Try the basic tuna, because I think it’s important for everyone to get a basic sense of what Portuguese tuna is,” Paiva-Neves says, pointing out a yellow can of Conserveira and a jarred variety of tuna loins, labeled Tenorio Filetes de Atum em Aziete (tuna fillets in olive oil). “If I am by myself and I make Portuguese tuna salad, I’ll mix this with chickpeas, egg and a vinaigrette over it, and call it a day.” See recipe here.

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Olive Oil

Paiva-Neves prefers high-end olive oil like the brand Metafora, but for the restaurant, she buys the brand Lagar. “Metafora has high polyphenols. I don’t use that to cook. I use it to top as a dressing,” she says. “I tend to buy plain olive oils. I figure if there’s going to be flavoring, I am going to be flavoring them myself.”

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Alheira and Blood Sausage

Paiva-Neves cooked her famous blood sausage for Emeril Lagasse when he most recently visited Fall River. She also loves alheira for its history. It was invented by the Jews who fled to Portugal. It traditionally has no pork in it, and was made from game meat like rabbit, duck or pheasant, and leftover bread. “It’s like Portuguese stuffing in a casing but without pork,” she says.

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St. George and São Miguel Cheeses 

Portugalia has big wheels of cheese that are cut to order in the back of the store. The varieties include a three-month and seven-month aged St. George cheese and a São Miguel-sourced variety (black label). “You try them all and you will be able to tell the difference,” Paiva-Neves says. 

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Prawns and Shellfish

“I come here often because my son must have two types of shrimp,” Paiva-Neves says. “In the Azores, you can order a big mug of beer and it comes with a plate on top of it that covers your beer, and there are six of these cooked shrimp on the plate.”

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Gorreana Tea

Did you know the Azores — São Miguel — is the only island that has a tea plantation in Europe? It was founded in 1883 by Ermelinda Pacheco Gago da Câmara, and continues to use the same machines dating from the nineteenth century to produce it. 

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Red Peppers

O Dinis staff normally make their own salted peppers, but sometimes they run out and buy the jarred variety at Portugalia. The brand is Dona Pimentinha pimenta salgada. “We don’t use the ones brined in vinegar because they will kill our sauce. We only use the salted variety.”

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Bolos Levedos

These are like Portuguese English muffins, made with sweet bread. “You slice it open, you toast it and put butter on it. And they have Azorean butter here. My kids’ favorite,” she says.

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Azorean Butter

“It is a must. I never come here without getting this. I find it to be saltier and creamier, and I find it to be not so bland like our butter in the States. It’s got to be what the cows are feeding on and the ocean.”