Vietnamese Nurturing my inner

It is surprising, when you know just where to shop, that you find those essential ingredients that are not readily available in the big supermarkets

NEWLY-SETTLED IN TAVIRA, KATHRYN BARNARD WAS MISSING REGULAR DOSES OF AUTHENTIC SOUTH EAST ASIAN FOOD IN THE ALGARVE. SO SHE DID THE SENSIBLE THING, AND LEARNED TO DIY IT, WITH A LITTLE HELP…

Photography: KATHRYN BARNARD

AS THE CLOCK ticked towards midnight, I sat and wondered if I was missing out on the big New Year’s happenings in the town square of Tavira. I was remiss about heading down there but we had hosted a large afternoon lunch, sporting my newfound favourite thing: fresh home-cooked Vietnamese food. I am not a New Year’s resolution girl, but I have been reflecting on how the first year in the Algarve, for me, has been fraught with much ado about food.

Being a transplant from a city with an overwhelmingly vast array of food options, too many to actually appreciate, I found myself in quite the parallel universe after moving to the Algarve.

I was truly excited about trying the cuisine of my newly-adopted country and embracing the flavours and diversity Portugal had to offer. I had heard nothing but good things about it and I was ready to dive in headfirst. And that I did. But after a while, my taste buds were hankering for something more diverse. I started branching out for some lighter, fresher options, but nothing seemed to hit the mark. I wasn’t quite sure what it was I was lacking, but something was missing.

As I perused my social media feeds, I looked at all my old favourite haunts, posting the dishes I had long been tired of. Interestingly enough, ninety-nine percent of what I was craving was Vietnameseinspired dishes.

When I decided to move to the Algarve, I was naturally aware that everything has its pluses and minuses, and although I gave up some grocery store experiences upon departing from the US, I had gained a much more important ingredient; quality of life. It was a welcome realisation that I needed to expand my kitchen abilities and learn how to cook what I was desperately missing.

Deciding to take the plunge into cooking Asian food was overwhelming. I am not sure why, but there seemed to be too many ingredients which I was not familiar with. While I was trying to raise a young son and own my own business in the US, it didn’t leave much creative space for fish sauce or pickled daikon. But, now that I am here, I felt the time was right. The planting beds I inherited with my house had been nicely propagated with some of the ingredients I was inspired by. I was ready! Now I just needed