A Portuguese Cheese Makes Friends

By Marian Burros
From The New York Times
December 24, 1998

On the menu it hardly seemed a dish of note: a spot of cheese, some dried fruits and roasted almonds. But this combination led three friends and me to wax rhapsodic as we each took a bite of the most famous of all Portuguese cheeses, queijo de Serra, with a bit of fig drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Could it possibly have tasted so luscious? We each took another bite, then another and another, trying the cheese with some dates, then with almonds, and then, in complete abandon, with everything in one mouthful, on a bit of crisped bread.

Taste and Texture Cheese, eggs, figs, dates and nuts at O Padeiro.

Editor's Note: What's wrong with this picture? You guessed it. You can hardly see the cheese. This is a travesty.

The buttery sheep's-milk cheese, with the texture of a runny reblochon but much milder, wraps each piece of fruit in its sweetness. But it is the 20-year-old balsamic vinegar, syrupy and sweetly sharp, that makes the dish something that is more than the sum of its parts - while allowing the taste and texture of each element to shine through.

The revelations took place at 0 Padeiro, a Portuguese bakery in Chelsea that started serving food in June. While you would not find a similar pairing of fruit and cheese in Portugal, dried fruits and almonds are an important part of Portuguese cooking. How typically American to meld different culinary cultures, creating something even better than the original.

The plate can be eaten by one hungry person or shared by four people; $12 at 0 Padeiro, 641 Avenue of the Americas, near 19th Street. FIN