Taste of Portugal Food Tour takes you on a culinary and cultural quest

FALL RIVER — What better way to explore a culture, or a city, than through its cuisine?

That is the central idea behind Viva Fall River's latest tourism effort — a delicious one at that — as groups soon set out on a culinary quest in and around downtown for the first-ever Taste of Portugal Food Tour.

What’s the difference between chourico and linguica? Is it true that Fall River has the largest percentage of Portuguese-American residents?

The city nonprofit and its partners, New Bedford Food Tours, promise to answer these questions and more as their tour, which launches May 26, makes its way down the picturesque, cobblestoned Columbia Street, a historic hub of the city's Portuguese community.

According to Patti Rego, executive director of Viva Fall River, Taste of Portugal offers an entree to the city in more ways than one because its focus goes beyond just food.

"It's about the culture, community, the role the Portuguese culture plays in Fall River and where we are now," she said.

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The tour is meant to boost Fall River's reputation as a unique food destination, highlighting the rich, authentic, and diverse culinary culture in the city.

"I'm always looking for ways to showcase the cultural bounty that we have here ... and the best, and most delicious, bounty is the food. It's such a common denominator. ... People love to connect over food," Rego said.

The Taste of Portugal is the perfect catalyst for that, Rego said. The goal is to get folks to "first, notice the city and once they're interested in the city through food you can show them other things and get them to come back again and see and discover more.

"It's kind of like an entree," she said.

Who will lead the Taste of Portugal tour?

Taste of Portugal is hosted by New Bedford Food Tours, in collaboration with Viva Fall River. Talks of bringing culinary tours to the Spindle City began over a year ago, Rego said.

With some input from prominent members of the Portuguese community, their goal in mapping out this tour was to also connect to the Portuguese culture and, more specifically, the Fall River Portuguese-American immigrant experience.

The key was finding the right tour guide, Rego said, someone not only familiar with Portuguese culture but with experience of being an immigrant themselves. Rego said they were "so blessed" Bristol Community College professor Odete Amarelo, PhD, agreed to take the lead.

"I couldn't think of anybody better" Rego said. "She brings a personal experience to it as well as a scholarly approach ... Your mind and your belly will be fed."

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What can we expect?

The itinerary for the three-hour Taste of Portugal walking tour includes eight stops.

The 1.5 mile trek steps off and ends at the Viva Fall River Maker Shop, at the corner of South Main and Columbia Street. From there, the route continues down Columbia Street with stops at Nobrega's Market, Tony's Bakery, Sagres Restaurant, Columbia Bakery, Chaves Market and Europa Pastries & Coffee Shop.

Santo Christo Church is the only non-food stop on the tour, but Rego said they felt it was important to include because "the church and religious tradition plays a huge role not only in culture but in food in Portugal .. and it's just a beautiful place."

At Viva Fall River Maker Shop, they'll be bringing Fall River's famed Portugalia Marketplace to participants with olive oil and wine tastings.

And along their journey, participants will enjoy more small bites — from pasteis de nata at Europa, recently crowned the Fall River Nata Throwdown champion, to some traditional Portuguese dishes and wine at Sagres and more. They might even go home with some sweet bread or a chourico roll.

"I had such a blast. It's super engaging and fun," said Rego, of her experience taking a test run of the tour.

Are we able to request food substitutions?

She noted, however, that this is not a tour for people who have food allergies or require food substitutions. While they will try to be accommodating, Rego said the Taste of Portugal cuisine is meant to be consumed "in the way the culture presents the food... it's meant to preserve the integrity of the experience.”

Other food-related tourism efforts

Taste of Portugal ties into Viva Fall River's larger tourism effort, which has included the popular Fall River Restaurant Week, self-guided meat pie and ice cream tours, and the Take 5 Off of 195 initiative that started last summer and will return again this year.

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For Rego, these efforts are aimed at getting people to "rediscover or discover different things about Fall River than the things they think they know.. challenging perceptions always."

Plans down the line also include another self-guided tour highlighting all the Latin American restaurants in the city, which have boomed in recent years.

Sign me up. How can I get tickets?

Tickets for Taste of Portugal are $90 per person, with everything included. Tours kick off on May 26, and starting in June will be held twice a month, from 1 to 4 p.m., through October.

For specific tour dates or to get your tickets, visit www.nbfoodtours.com/taste-of-portugal.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Food tour serves up flavors of Fall River and Portugal