Cooking class in Porto

Quite a few years ago, during a vacation in his youth, back when “anything goes”, Vítor traveled to the Algarve with some friends. They rented the cheapest apartment they could find (“There were seven of us in an SRO!” he jokes, exaggerating). Vítor joined them a few days later. When he arrived, he opened the fridge and only saw cheese and ham. “I asked them: ‘Guys, what the heck is this!?’ ‘Well, that’s what we’ve been eating!’ ‘You’re all crazy,’ I said. ‘Come on: everyone put in 25 dollars each. I’m going to the market. So, I made a menu for the next few days and started cooking proper food for everyone”. Since then, he’s never stopped doing it. The difference now is that you can join him for a very private masterclass, in his wonderful location by the Ribeira, Porto’s oldest quarter.

The gastronomic mindset of this former insurance professional goes back a long way, to his childhood. “In my family there was always socializing around the table. I always thought that was a great. And when I started working, my first paychecks were spent in the best restaurants. At the same time, I was taking cooking courses after work”. That’s when everything really changed.

“One day, I decided to take a bottle of wine to school. At the end of the class, I said to the chef: ‘We cooked this, it was a lot of work, but we’re not taking it home… I’ve got a bottle here. How about we all try it and have a tasting?’ So that’s how the concept came about. The exact the same concept I’ve had in the experiences I’ve been offering since 2018, when I decided to leave the insurance industry and start my own business.”

Vítor’s space in Ribeira is unusual – “And the location is absolutely wonderful”. In a modern apartment in a historic building, there is a kitchen where, around a huge wooden table, everything happens. From preparation to the meal. Yet, that’s not where the experience begins. It’s inside an old Land Rover.

The off-roader is an old model, full of charm. Vítor first takes his guests on a beautiful drive along the banks of the Douro River to the market in the fishing town of Matosinhos, just outside Porto. It’s an exercise in building up an appetite and getting people excited about the kitchen work:

“The Matosinhos market is out of this world! It has everything we need. I like doing maritime dishes. We can start with some Bulhão Pato-style clams, then think about some seafood rice with sea bass fillets (using the leftovers from the fish to make a broth!)… And we buy some squid, some prawns and some vegetables… And then we stop by a fabulous traditional bakery, which has divine bread and… back to the kitchen!”

But relax! Before getting down to work, there are some starters to give you energy. Grilled chorizo, Azorean cheese, a very fresh white “verde” wine…

Each experience – which can be for a small group, but Vítor works primarily with couples – lasts three to five hours.

Oh yes, it’s a complete class. From learning how to slice an onion (yes, it’s important) to making his family recipe for a fantastic almond tart from Trás-os-Montes (“I have guests who then send me photos on WhatsApp: ‘I made the tart for Thanksgiving! It was a success!’”), with two or three dishes going at the same time… “For everything to run smoothly, the secret is very simple: here, people feel at home. Sharing is always present here.”

Sharing also involves, of course, adapting everything to the guests’ palates. Different nationalities have different sensibilities. “But none can resist that essential base of traditional Portuguese cuisine, olive oil, which works wonders, from the pan to the seasoning on the plate!”

One time, Vítor only realized after a while that his guests included a chef from a Michelin-awarded restaurant in Brussels. What’s more, Vítor had decided that one of the dishes would be mussels – the Belgian capital’s signature dish. At the end, the chef asked him for a tablespoon to finish the sauce on the mussel tray. And he told him, “That’s real flavor! Nowadays other people make so much up in the kitchen…”.

But with Vítor, nothing is makeshift or invented. You follow and learn with him the genuine nature of Portuguese food.

And all this takes place in his open home – which is, for a good few hours, his guests’ home.