When Is Too Much Of A Good Thing, Bad?

It began the way any obsession does – with a single occurrence.

We -- my daughter, Melisa, along with her husband, Andy, arrived in Sao Miguel, the largest of the Azorean islands at 7am, blurry-eyed from our overnight flight from Toronto. We had exactly 12 hours to explore the island. (It turned into 14 due to a flight delay, but since we were stuck at the airport, the extra two hours don’t count.) 

Our rental car awaited us, and towing carry-on luggage only, we were out of there in quick order.  No time to waste.

It was a really small car

I had, more-or-less, planned our route. We would drive the north coast of the island to the town of Furnas for breakfast. Then motor to the opposite side of the island to Sete Cidades  (Seven Cities) for a late lunch. In between, we’d stop at this lookout and that lookout to gawk at the landscape and when the need arose, have the obligatory bica (espresso) wherever we found ourselves.

By 3pm we’d made our way to Sete Cidades, with its twin-lakes – one emerald green and the other sapphire blue – a phenomenon and one of Portugal’s Seven Natural Wonders. (Legend has it these lakes were formed from the tears of a poor blue-eyed sheppard boy and a green-eyed princess who fell in love but were not allowed to marry. They cried and cried over their dilemma and, well, you can you can figure out the rest.)

From the miradoure (lookout point) high above the town, we posed for pictures with the lakes behind us. Then we crossed the street to explore the abandoned hotel, with its graffiti laced walls and tree-lined balconies. Then we all agreed: we were starving. Time for lunch.

Tightly hugging the curb, Andy drove our little vehicle down the escarpment and over the bridge with green lake-water running underneath it, leading to the town of Sete Cidades. He parked. We greeted the cow lazing on the field to our right, and made our way to the first restaurant we spotted. With its large patio, green-plastic tables and white chairs, it was perfect. A quick review of the menu posted behind a small glass window confirm it.

Andy has been part of our family for a number of years and has become familiar with many of our traditional family foods.  Early on he was introduced to stewed octopus, salted cod, morecela (blood sausage), sapatel (blood pudding), to name just a few things. He was more than ready for a food adventure on this trip.

“Lapas. I've heard you guys mention this. I have to try them.” he said.

Lapas are limpets, defined by Wikipedia as: an aquatic snail  shell that is broadly conical in shape.

photo via https://en.wikipedia.org

To the Azorean people, lapas are a gastronomical feast, a delicacy appreciated only by those who are comfortable popping into their mouths organisms that are wriggling, with antennas whizzing about. People have lost their lives scraping lapas off  rocks buried deep in the pounding surf. 

Lucky for us we didn’t have to risk our lives, neither did we have to face a live lapa. The menu offered up ‘grilled lapas’. Excellent, I thought. We ordered.

They arrived at our table sizzling on a hot grill. Like a steak or fajitas, but a far stretch from anything served in a Toronto area restaurant. The scent of garlic hit my nose with a wallop, which, to be very clear, is not a complaint.

Careful not to brand our fingers on the hot grill, we carefully retrieved one shell at a time, popped it into our mouth and began with moans usually reserved for experiences outside the kitchen table. Things like, wow, and oh my god, that is soooo good, were stated.

“We should make this a thing,” I said. “Everywhere we eat, if they have lapas on the menu, we should order them.”

And so we did. For the next seven days. 

Every day.

We. Ate. Lapas.

Be day two, we began judging -- on presentation, texture, amount of garlic, were they served with lemon wedges or not? Was the taste enhanced if the lemon was squeezed over them?

By day 3 we knew what ‘over-grilled’ was (rubber-chewy is never good).

On it went…every day.

Then day 6, our final day in the Azores, arrived. New day. New restaurant. Andy had stepped away to the WC but not before reviewing the menu.

“Melisa,” I said, in the way one reveals a secret they aren’t proud of. “I’m not sure I can eat another lapa.”

She gave me a glare that screamed: You started this!

Our server arrived. We placed our order.

“Did you order the lapas?” asked Andy taking his seat across from me.

“Sure did,” I answered. I had started this.

Our trip eventually led us to Lisbon.

“Huh! No lapas,” said Andy on our first night out in a Lisbon restaurant.

“No. They’re not consumed here.” I said. And secretly praised the Food Gods.

Andy settled for clams swimming in garlic, olive oil and cilantro.

“Try them,” he said.

I took one, commented to its flavour, (it was delicious) but remained silent after that.

Let’s not start this again, I thought!