Monday 30 April 2012

The beautiful "Maia" tradition in Portugal



The name of the fifth month of the Julian calendar, the month of May (in Latin, Maius and Maio, in Portuguese language) probably had its origin in the word  Maia, the mother of Mercury.


In Roman tradition,  Maia  personified the awakening of nature in the spring and is also the goddess of fertility and the projection of vital energy.   Maia is symbol of spring.   

In Portugal it is a tradition to decorate the doors of houses and windows and other places with common gorse flowers.  The tradition requires that the locks and latches on all windows and external doors of the houses are decorated with branches of gorse in bloom, called "Maia". Farmers should also be vigilant and place the flowers inside the animal corrals.
If doors or windows do not hold a branch of Maia,  it is believed that "the devil will come and suck the blood of those who dwell there."

This is a very old tradition  throughout Portugal, especially in the north.  Some scholars say it has to do with pagan rites associated with spring and fertility of the land and animals.  There are also those who say that this tradition may have religious roots as as story goes that Our Lady, during her the flight into Egypt, with Baby Jesus and Saint Joseph, had sowed gorse seeds along the way so that they could find their way back when returning from there. 

Another legend goes that by the time of Passover, when Jesus was in Jerusalem, the Jews marked with gorse branches the house where he was staying so that the soldiers could identify it later on and arrest him.  However, on the next day, all doors and windows of the city were decorated with flowers of gorse, making it impossible for the soldiers to find Jesus's location.  




In the Alentejo region, with particular emphasis on Beja, the "Maia" are girls who dress in white, adorned with flowers in their heads. They gather on the streets and sit on chairs  adorned with roses while other elder girls carrying small trays in hand, ask passers-by : "Sir, give some money for the  Mayan."  -  “Meu senhor, um tostãozinho para a maia"






In the Algarve, in almost all the houses it is customary to get a big man made of straw, rye, bran and rags and dress it in  white and then surround it with flowers. It is the "Maia" placed in full view of passers by.

This habit of putting yellow gorse at the doors, windows and balconies is not lost, as well as the enduring habit of making straw dolls.   However, the tradition of girls dressed in Maia has become rare nowadays.  However, on the first day of May, there are other traditional rituals such as eating chestnuts with the aim of cast the evil away.  



Some nice vocabulary to prepare you for the Maia Rituals: 

Flower - flor 
Gorse - giestas
Bunch - ramalhete
Door - porta
Window - janela
chestnuts -  amêndoa
Spring - primavera

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Easter in Portugal. Have you ever eaten folar?


Almonds and Easter Bunny Bag 
Eggs and almonds, the Folar (a special Easter Bread (recipe at the end of the article), the Easter Bunny, the whole family together for a special lunch and for some, the Easter Sunday mass. This is how many Portuguese families celebrate Easter.Before Easter, during Lent, the Portuguese avoid eating meat during Fridays for 40 days in respect for the memory of the death of Christ, for it was on a Friday that Jesus was crucified. But on Easter Sunday as we celebrate the feast of the resurrection, the meat returns to Portuguese tables. Walking  the Portuguese Caminho of Santiago da Compostela during the Holy Weekis becoming increasingly popular among the Portuguese. This year, the Espaço Jacobeus Association has distributed 500  credentials to Portuguese pilgrims visiting the tomb of the Apostle James in Compostela.  You can see here more details about this adventure. In Portugal, Easter is celebrated up and down the Country , but it surely has a greater importance in more traditional villages.   There, people will keep their houses very tidy and clean and will be dressed up, waiting for the 'compasso', the visit of the local priest who comes to bless the home and those who live there.   In some villages, it is still customary for the priest and his acolytes to carry a cross, which all the villagers kiss, asking for a blessing.Traditionally, you will find in all homes the traditional almonds and sweets, accompanied by a glass of port wine or liquor as a touch of hospitality to the priest and his companions.  These are traditions that have unfortunately dissipated in the hectic life in the big cities.
In many villages people still celebrate Holy Week with processions of candles at night, or theatrical performances of popular events of Christ's death.


The Folar Bread
The tradition of FOLAR, the Easter Bread.

The Folar Bread is a typical  present given during Easter in Portugal. It is this bread that godparents used to give their godchildren at Easter to break the fasting period.  

The
 bread was also seen as a sign of affluence, during the compasso, the priest would collect the Folar from the houses he visited. . Not forgetting, of course, that being made of wheat, it represents the basic element that makes food, food!
Most dictionaries flag the origin of the word 'Folar from the Latin "floralis".  The authors suggest the Germanic 'flado' which means 'honey cake' as the probable root for the name Folar or, as some other authors claim,  Folar comes from the French 'poularde'.   

Folar
 is defined as a cake-shaped dough nesting an orange-colored egg on the top.


The bread, which is also known as cake, symbolizes the nestand the eggs, the  generation of a new life, fertility.  When you present someone with a Folar bread, you are wishing this person happiness and prosperity.  

In the Portuguese villages, the bread is a very rustic bakery product whereas in the cities, it is a product of "pastelaria" with some improvement of flavor, colour, texture and presentation. and as with everything in Portugal, when it comes to cooking, each region of the country will feature its Folar prepared in a different way.   As a guide, grandmothers would prepare them using wheat flour (well sifted), a dozen eggs per each quilo of flour, butter, yeasts, olive oil, salt.   You may use as a filling the meat of beef, lamb, chicken, sausages etc. See below one - of the many - recipe for a traditional Folar Bread.
The
 Folar does not require much ingenuity, just some patience (it takes about 2 ½ hours until done). 
You can opt for a traditional bread, or make a typical Transmontano recipe (stuffed with sausage typical of the region) or make a Catanhede recipe; the dough is like the traditional version, but the centre  has Olive Oil and the shape of the bread is slightly different.

You will need the following ingredients


500g flour
125g sugar
125g of butter
4 eggs
25g of baker's yeast
0.5 dl of milk, 
lemon zest  
salt to taste  
3-4 boiled eggs.


Then you lay hands on the dough. Sift the flour, dissolve yeast inwarm milk BakerPlacethen the flour in a bowl and combine all the ingredients in the centerKnead well until dough is smooth and homogeneousCover with cling film and let rise (doubling its volume).

Sift the flour, dissolve the yeast (if using biological yeast) in warm milk.  Put the flour in a bowl and combine all the ingredients in the centre. Knead well until dough is smooth and homogeneous. Cover with cling film and let rise (doubling its volume).
Cut
 then into pieces of 400 grams each and form a ball and leave them to rest for 30 minutes. Set some dough aside, wrapped in cling film, to form the strips that will "hold" the boiled egg - see the picture below.  Add some milk to a beaten egg and use this mixture to brush the dough.  Add the boiled eggs (whole!) in the center of the dough, pressing them down gently.

Brush
 and bake the dough in a preheated oven at 200 ° C.   Do not get distracted.  After 15 minutes, it is necessary to lower the oven temperature to 180 ° C.    Bake it for more 10 minutes.   It is ready!
Bom apetite!




Want to read more?  Find below some nice websites on the theme: 
Sources: http://viadeiportoghesi.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/pscoa-em-portugal-por-marta-sofia.html ,  http://www.dn.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=1192678 , http://praca.porto24.pt/2012/03/30/aprendemos-a-fazer-um-folar-tradicional-e-contamos-lhe-tudo/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=aprendemos-a-fazer-um-folar-tradicional-e-contamos-lhe-tudo 

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Portuguese: 4th easiest language to learn?



What makes a language easy?  A simple and logical grammar engineering?  The number of words?  Pronunciation?  Similarities between the new language and your native language?  

Does it depend on what native language the student speaks?   So, for Spanish speakers, learning Portuguese is easier than it may be when learning English?  Is this true? 



The Editor of linguim.com  listed Portuguese as the 4th easiest language to be learned by an English speaker.   


Although there is no hard evidence provided by the editor to support this claim, his/her thoughts on the theme are very interesting:  

"Portuguese is yet another romance language that shares similarities with English, yet contains fewer prepositions. However, Portuguese prepositions do not always mimic their English counterparts, so a slight learning curve is in store. Learning to pronounce Portuguese words is usually easy for English speakers; however some of the vowel sounds may take some getting used to. In many languages learning how to ask a question in proper context is difficult, but posing a question in Portuguese is as easy as speaking the words. Individuals that have already learned some Spanish may find it even easier to learn Portuguese.  Most people rank Portuguese as easier to learn than French, but not as easy as Italian or Spanish. It is important to note that there are two very different variations of Portuguese – Brazilian and European. Of the languages on this list, Portuguese shares the most similarities with Spanish, but most agree that Portuguese pronunciations are more difficult."


One thing I tell my students when they start taking Portuguese Lessons with me is that once they feel comfortable with the Portuguese language, they will notice that most of the words in Spanish will not seem so unknown.

Spanish and Portuguese are "sister" languages,  although Portuguese pronunciation swings more towards French and Catalan whereas Spanish pronunciation will be closer to Italian language.    Portuguese has a wider number of phonemes (the sound units in a language) than Spanish does, therefore, it is easier for a Portuguese speaker to understand a Spanish speaker than vice-versa.   



Doubt it?  


So ask a native Spanish speaker to say this pair: "meu avô; minha avó"  and then, ask a native Portuguese speaker to do the same.  Can you spot the difference?   If the Spanish speaker likes football, ask him/her to say the name of the best footballer in all times.   No, not Maradona!  It is Pelé!   ;p  Now ask a Portuguese speaker.  Pay attention to how the "é", in Pe, will be pronounced.   These are just some quick examples, of course. 




Spanish and Portuguese also share loads of similar words, the cognates, but with different meaning, the famous false-cognates, or, "false friends": 
My favourite false-friend is the word: "esquisito"  ---  The most common meaning of Esquisito in Portuguese is "weird", "strange" , in Spanish (written - exquisito) it means "excellent", "delicious".   So you can imagine what a confusion it is if you decide to compliment the food your Portuguese host has prepared to you by saying: "Oh, que exquisito!"


Check some false-cognates Portuguese -Spanish below:  


                        Portuguese                                                 Spanish

Ninho: bird nest Niño: child, boy


Engraçado: funny, graciousEngrasado: greasy 


Borracha: eraser(rubber)Borracha: drunk

Esquisito: rare, weird, strangeExquisito: excellent, delicious
Fechar:to close, shutFechar: to write the date
Ganância: ambitionGanancia: profit, earning
Oi: HiHoy: today
Latido: the "barking" of a dogLatido: heart beat
Ligar:to call on the phone, to link, matchLigar: to flirt
Logro: cheatLogro: success
Mala: valise.Mala: má.
Oficina: mechanics, garageOficina: office
Osso: bonesOso: bear
Polvo: octopusPolvo: dust
Prender: to deter, arrestPrender: to lit 
Rato: mouseRato: short period of time
Reto: straight (no curves)Reto: challenge
Risco: dangerRisco: cliff
Saco: Purse, Sack, BagSaco: jacket (with a tie) 
Salada:saladSalada: salty 
Solo: ground, earth, soilSolo: alone, on your own
Taça: special glass for winesTasa: tax


Source: http://transportuguese.com/blog_traducao/algumas-diferencas-entre-o-espanhol-e-o-portugues/

Can you identify some English words in there as well?  Like, "salad" for salada, in Portuguese? So now you know that "salada" means salty, in Spanish.  



Next post, I will explore a little bit the differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese. Don't miss it! :)  


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