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We've built ourselves a little house on the prairie. It's a curious thing to be talking about television series in the queue for Fagner Buzinhani's stand (GoJuu) when this very American idea strikes us. Perhaps it was the logical thread of the conversation, treading an old synaptic path, but all of a sudden we've got an iwashi yaki sando in hand – that is, a Japanese sardine sandwich – and it's as if we've opened the first volume of In Search of Lost Time. That's a lie. It's as if we were actually inside those pages, biting into a madeleine – grilled-fish edition – and at that moment Michael Landon appeared to reassure us: we've got ourselves a home here. By "here" we mean the area of the Chefs on Fire grounds called Pradaria, and from which, we notice now, we still haven't left since arriving at Parque Marechal Carmona this Sunday, for the second day of the festival.
We settled in for all the right reasons: besides the grilled sardine sandwich, Diogo Formiga's (Encanto) stale-bread ramen, right at the opening and under the scorching early-afternoon sun; Pedro Lemos's surprising smoked xerém with mushrooms and roots; and Ricardo Costa's (The Yeatman) grouper with vichyssoise, mushrooms and bone marrow, a dish that went straight onto the list of favourites from this edition of Chefs on Fire. A run that started off high on enthusiasm and, surprisingly, kept climbing with every new tasting. Leaving this part of the grounds seemed, therefore, a strange notion. Leave why, and for whom? Why take risks, embark on adventures, face the threat of disappointment and frustration? All the more so when we still hadn't tried the dishes of Paulo Alves (Praia no Parque), the suzuki sumibiyaki with macaroni, fumet and aromatics – or, in layman's terms, a sea bass pasta stew – and of Tiago Penão (Kappo), the yaki ika – or grilled squid – with sea urchin beurre blanc.
They were the wrong questions. In a fine moment we did what Michael Landon taught us in the Old West: never turn your back on a challenge. And we would find happiness in the other zones of the grounds. Right away at Quinta, where Petter Nyström (Familjen) served us his courgette with ember-smoked butter, crushed green herbs and piri-piri. The Swedish chef was the "rising star" of this second day, but perhaps the label is a euphemism for novelty, an expression pointing to a collective discovery of the cuisine that, since last year, has been cementing its place in Madragoa. Nyström isn't a rising star, he's a star – and this dish, the best of the day and of the whole festival, is more proof to that effect. Beside him at the pit, Louise Bourrat (Mammarua) was serving up another favourite of the day: octopus shawarma, tomato salad, garum and la-yu. Further on, João Magalhães (Bar Alimentar) was preparing another: tongue and pancetta skewer, yoghurt and salad.
As we were saying, it's just as well we left Pradaria. Especially since it became clear early on that this second day of Chefs on Fire was much stronger than the first. The memorable offerings were stacking up. Heading down to the Bosque (woods) zone, here was another: Alentejo pork neck, smoked potato and heart-of-ox tomato, the work of Afonso Dantas (A Cozinha do Paço), with the meat cooked to perfection. Perhaps because of the growing number of exceptional dishes, others were received with less enthusiasm than they would have deserved in ordinary circumstances. For example, the crispy pork with potato salad from Miguel Peres (Pigmeu); for example, the chicken hearts from Michele Marques (Gadanha Mercearia); for example, the open-fire rib, with corn polenta and pineapple vinaigrette, that Angélica Salvador (In Diferente) brought to Cascais; for example, Nelson Soares's (Sult) casarecce with sausage, broccoli and pangrattato.
Or even, at Palácio, Filipe Janeiro's (Gazebo) squid with yam and tomato, although Madeira's representative on the day fell a little short of the others hard done by on this list. Truth be told, the only dish that disappointed was the grilled mackerel with roasted red pepper sauce and pickled fennel, from Matias Natuche, who has become the main face of Barbela since the departure of Leandro Carreira. We associate the Santos restaurant with inventive and provocative cooking, singular even, but the proposal the Argentinian chef brought to the Praia zone contained none of those qualities. In fact, on the sands, not even the "surprise concert" from A Sul, in the middle of the afternoon, managed to convince many people to head down the improvised steps. Up top, the story was different, especially given the crowds at Pigmeu but also at the desserts by Marlene Vieira (Zunzum), a sandwich made with cookie, vanilla ice cream and caramel, and by Nathalie Inês (Sála), a "sweet alheira" filled with figs, pine nuts and almonds that looked like a proper alheira with fried egg and chips (which were sweet too).
A dessert that fools no one is the chocolate mousse from Pap'Açorda. Another is Hugo Candeias's Basque cheesecake. That's how we ended the night, with safe bets and plenty of sparkling water. Behind us were more curiosities, some again from the television world, like the speakers around the grounds blaring the opening theme from Cheers, that show about a place where everybody knows your name (in essence, the ethos of Chefs on Fire); others equally musical, like Carolina Deslandes's set at the table, where, besides her own songs, she sang Sérgio Godinho and Amy Winehouse, and where she welcomed as guest Ricardo Ribeiro, responsible for the great moment of the concert ("As Mondadeiras"). But nothing quite as universal as the moment when a boy, wise and to the point, shouting in the middle of the crowd, summed up the collective thought with the candour only a child can muster: "I need a poo!" If we asked, no one would disagree.
See also: Between sweet treats and healthy bites, MIMO Café will leave everyone's mouth watering
Plus: The best things to do in Cascais in September
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