PORTUGAL MEETS MOZAMBIQUE
SynopsisPlot
The book is filled with authentic tales of sharing good flavorful meals with family and the birth of the restaurant, Cantinho do Aziz, which started similar to all great success stories, with a bit of luck, hard work, and the vision of its original owners, Mr. Aziz and his wife, Dona Farida, the restaurant’s original chef and pioneer of Mozambican cuisine in Lisbon. Chef Farida supported the restaurant’s opening in the early days with a simple motto to her husband, “I cook, you serve,” we will make it work.Cozinha Moçambicana has claimed both categories, “Best Woman Chef Book” and “Best Portuguese” from Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2019.
Story
About this book
Portugal Meets Mozambique is a cookbook by Jeny Sulemange and Khalid Aziz that traces the food and family stories behind Cantinho do Aziz, a restaurant in Lisbon known for Mozambican cooking. The book connects two countries whose histories are deeply linked through centuries of Portuguese colonial presence in Mozambique. Sulemange, who was born in Mozambique and later moved to Europe, draws on personal experience living between the U.K. and Portugal to present recipes shaped by both traditions.
The restaurant itself was founded by Mr. Aziz and his wife, Dona Farida, who served as its original chef. Farida is described as a pioneer of Mozambican cuisine in Lisbon, and her approach to the early days was practical: she would cook, her husband would serve, and together they would make it work. The book captures how that simple arrangement grew into a recognized establishment, alongside the meals and gatherings that surrounded it.
An earlier volume by Sulemange, Cozinha Moçambicana, received Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2019 in two categories: Best Woman Chef Book and Best Portuguese. Portugal Meets Mozambique continues the exploration of flavors rooted in Mozambican home cooking and its presence in the Portuguese capital.
