Carlos Ferreira was born in Estarreja, Portugal, a picturesque village located near the city of Aveiro, affectionately referred to as the "Venice of Portugal" for its quaint canals, salt marshes, beaches and lagoons. As a child, his aquarium was the Atlantic Ocean; his sandbox, the beach; his playground, nature. He would listen to the sound of the ocean waves and surf.
At the age of 19, Carlos and his brother Julio came to Canada to lay the foundation for the Ferreira family's future. The uprooting was somewhat jarring: leaving a warm, sunny climate and landing in cold, snowy Montreal in the middle of February.
Carlos married in Quebec and honeymooned in his native Portugal, returning for the first time since his immigration. Since that first return, he has passionately strived to learn, understand and soak up everything about his country, its history, traditions, architecture, culture, literature, cuisine and artistic life.
"Portugal is where earth ends and the sea begins," the famous poet Luis Vaz de Camôes once wrote, a sentiment Carlos fondly shares. With the Ferreira Café, Carlos has realized his goal of introducing others to the beauty of his home country.
In his book, Carlos Ferreira does his best to teach us about Portugal. Stories from the past are mixed with those from the present, sometimes logically, sometimes paradoxically. We find recipes both traditional (from Portugal) and contemporary (from Montreal) served with humour, anecdotes and memories. It is written without a hint of pretentiousness, but with a certain bias: to make people discover a hearty, aromatic and generous cuisine faithful to the original recipes and to convey a man’s love for his native country.
