Hi! This is not Poet. I'm Phil Capper, late of England, then Guernsey and now living in Madeira, but here in Guernsey on holiday and reading all this on Poet's pc. Fascinating reading, all this internet business. What I want to know is, where does the steam come out when you're working this machine? Anyway, enough of these pleasantries and down to business. Here are a couple of recipes that I've come across in Madeira, the garden paradise of the Atlantic. The first is a typical and very popular dish from Portugal, while the second comes from East Timor. I collected that one from a Timorese family who were cooking "al fresco" at a gastronomic fair in Machico. One point I should make is that I never weigh things. If it looks about right, it generally is.

BACALHAU (SALTED COD) À GOMES DE SÁ

Ingredients: Dried salt cod, onions, potatoes, eggs, garlic, good olive oil. parsley, black olives, salt and pepper to taste. There should always be more fish than potato.

Soak the fish overnight, changing the water regularly. Place the fish, potatoes and eggs in a large pan, cover with water, bring to the boil and boil until the eggs are hard-boiled. Remove from the heat and put the eggs aside to cool. Peel the potatoes and slice. Remove the skin and all bones from the fish.

Thinly slice the onions and saute in good olive oil, add the finely chopped garlic and continue to cook until transparent. Add the sliced potatoes and the fish, stirring gently. Season to taste. Finally add the boiled eggs, sliced or quartered, with the chopped parsley and black olives.

Serve and eat.

TIMORESE LAMB STEW

This one's even easier to prepare!

Lamb stew meat, e.g. belly, neck chops or any lamb meat, onions, garlic, mint, tamarind, chillies, a few lemon leaves, salt and pepper

There are also two ingredients which I will name in Portuguese, because I haven't found an English translation for them; Erva Principe and Manjerico. The latter should not be confused with manjericão, which transaltes as basil. As a keen cook, I would appreciate translations of these and other cooking matters.

If you can't get tamarind (as I can't here or Madeira), you can use malt vinegar, which I like to mix with a little lemon juice.

Put all the ingredients in a large pan, bring to the boil and leave to cook, stirring occasionally, adjusting the seasoning. Serve with a cup or scoop of rice for each person. Delicious!