It is quite fitting then that the United Portuguese hall and market is located. These buildings are the hearts of the Portuguese American community which has long standing ties in Point Loma. Cathy showed me two specialty markets earlier today. It was time to see one more...
I hadn't been to the market in a while, the last time was with my neighbor who is married to a Portuguese (who was also raised in Angola).
I never took a closer look at the blue tile work on the building until today...
Very nice!
Inside was a glass display case which had a variety of items such as a religious statue (Mary), a crown and scepter , plus many photos of local youth who make up the Prince/Princess court for their annual Festa. It was so nice to see the young teens in cultural attire and being proud of their heritage.
Out towards the back was this new sign advertising their new cafe which opened just last month.
The Cafe menu:
We just wanted to browse, but of course ended up leaving with a few bags of stuff (in my case) and in Cathy's, a meat pie.
There was a display of Sumol products. I was happy to see that they had a 12-pack of the passionfruit flavor. Last time I went, they only had orange.
Various snacks, jams, cookies and canned goods (sardines)...
The view of our skyline from Harbor Drive approaching Laurel St. In the middle in the background you can see the County Administration Building...
A few items I picked up as gifts: 12-pack of Sumol (to be given as gifts and also for us to enjoy), a 6-pack of Super Bock mini's (I gave some to our neighbor and her husband; the rest are for Bert), a couple of cans of sardines, a bottled passionfruit Sumol, and a tropical fruit flavored candy bar from the Azores.
Cathy and I also met an elderly man there who gave us a pen (that lights up!) with his fish market business. He was a bit on the "friendly" side. When he saw that I was buying the Sumol, he asked if I liked passionfruit and I told him that I did. He recounted a story of how his mother used to handsqueeze passionfruits to make into sangria, which she would give to an old folks home. I looked up this man's information online and it turns out that his mother, who passed away at age 97 in 2005 was a beloved member of the Portuguese community, known for her good cooking and her generosity.
"Margarida Madruga, 97, Portuguese Community Icon", Obituary from April 27, 2005.
Previous visit to the United Portuguese S.E.S. Market:
December 2013 with my neighbor and our girls
Now that they have that new Cafe, we will have to go back to their grilled linguica sandwich...
4 comments:
Specialty markets are so fun to visit! I have never heard of the stuff you got, but I love visiting those little markets.
This one is really small. I was hoping they would have some frozen cod fish fritters in their freezer, but no such luck. Sumol is a very popular brand of soda and Super Bock is a popular beer. If I didn't have a Portuguese neighbor, I wouldn't have known this.
Loved this place. We are planning a lunch here soon...were going to one day last week, but there was no line at Point Loma Seafood...
Can't wait to read your "report" on their cafe menu.
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