The Great Sardine Party!
By Hush-Hush Garden

By Paula Santos

The first Sardine party at Hush-Hush Garden was tremendous. The garden looked small for so many people and a six elements band – Tons Calientes - who thrilled the crowd with fantastic popular music usually played during the festivities of Lisbon.

This band is formed by professional musicians who normally play in private parties.  

Apart the Sardines, truly the queens of the night, we started with two salads:

Home-made cured cod salad with chickpeas from Serpa and baby red Swiss chards.

By Paula Santos

Roasted red pepper salad with cured Azeitão cheese, roasted almonds and fresh coriander leaves.

By Paula Santos

The highlight of the party was when the band amazed the guests with a Passo Doble as we served the grilled wild ox (touro bravo) steaks with wild rocket salad. This meat brings us back the memories of the genuine meat flavor, as we remember from our childhood. Awesome!

By Paula Santos

 

By Paula Santos

This was followed by the grilled sardines, served with boiled potatoes and spring onion mayonnaise.

By Paula Santos

To prep the stomachs for the desserts, verdolaga soup with goat cheese, a typical Alentejo’s dish.

For dessert, we decided to celebrate the season with a strawberry and mint salad topped by a Manjerico (sweet basil) sorbet.

By Paula Santos

By AnaMariaGozandoaVida

We feel really fortunate to welcome fantastic guests who contributed to create Hush-Hush Garden’s magic mood.

 Once more we had a fantastic time under the moon and the stars!

Thank you all!

Tons Calientes contact: + 351 93 425 12 27

Oh Santo António,

Meu Santo Antoninho,

Leva-me ao Hush-Hush Garden,

Que eu quero ir a esse jantarinho!

The great Sardine party is at Hush-Hush Garden.

Join us to celebrate one of the most traditional and charismatic parties of Lisbon!

 Santo António is the patron saint of Lisbon and the happy marriages. Traditionally, during the parties, sweethearts burn a wild artichoke. If it blossoms the next year, it means their love is forever!

It’s also the season for the beloved offer each other Manjericos (small leave basil) tucked with a paper carnation and a love poem.

We’re preparing a great dinner party with Sardines, paper flowers and popular music by a sextet of metal instruments to cheer the night!

 

Rain! Tropical rain and the promise of a ruined dinner party…

Once again we had to set the table inside. But, astonishingly, half an hour later, the sky was crystal clear, no wind blowing and it was hot!

We quickly moved the table outside and it was amazing! It came out to be a great night under the stars.

Here is the recipe for the main course:

Ingredients

Deboned ribcages of pork - 2

Herbs: Thyme, rosemary, mint and fennel – 1 bunch

Roasted pine nuts – 75 g

Preserved lemon – 1 ½ lemon

Garlic head – 1

Lemons – ½

1 - Emerge the preserved lemon rinds in cold water for a few hours to rinse the excess of salt.

2 - Scrub the meat with the lemon and the garlic head inside and out.

3 - Chop the herbs and the pine nuts and cover the deboned meat with it.

4 - Cut the preserved lemon rind into stripes and spread on top of the herbs and pines.

5 - Roll the meat up and seal it with strings.

6 - Roast in the oven for 1 hour at 180 ºC. Turn the rolls over and cook for another hour until it’s brown and crispy.

7 - To serve, remove the strings and cut two fingers width slices.

This time, the dish was completed with roasted sweet potatoes seasoned with olive oil, sea salt and oreganos and artichokes hearts with a lemon and butter sauce.

Lisbon, the city of light and the violet blue trees

Lisbon is dressed in violet blue because of the Jacaranda trees. It’s the best time of the year. And when it’s windy, we’re presented with a blue flower shower over our heads! These will only last until the end of June. So let’s celebrate the glory of the beautiful Jacaranda trees next Saturday at Hush-Hush Garden! We’re waiting for you. Join us!

HUSH-HUSH GARDEN MENU

4^th June 2011

To Start

Porto Tonic

Tapenade, Beetroot hummus & Guacamole trio

Lagoinha bread

To Continue

Algarve fresh figs and Porco Preto ham with lemon and olive oil dressing, sprinkled with toasted pine nuts

Duck liver pâté bonbon with tangerine jam

Caldo verde -

Traditional soup with Hush-Hush Garden’s cabbage leaves and home-made chorizo crackers  

Organic pork belly stuffed with fresh herbs, roasted pine nuts and preserved lemon with artichokes & roasted sweet potato from Aljezur

To Finish

Hibiscus and wild flower jelly

Carob cake with lemon curd

Coffee and Hush- Hush Garden’s tea and

Almond pie cubes

Hush-Hush Garden prefers organic or sustainably produced ingredients.