I’m a sucker for a bargain, but when I discover that La Rosas on Augusta in Kensington Market has raised the price of its Portuguese-style rotisserie chickens to $6.50, I’m not buying (though I’ll definitely return for the bakery’s superb whole wheat bran baguettes, even though they too have increased to $1.85).
No, I’ll be picking up my take-away birds at Nosso Talho (1042 Bloor West, at Salem, 416-531-7462) in the nascent Bloor West village where an extremely moist two-pound barbecued bird goes for all of $4.99. You’ll find them in the store’s deli section still warm from the spit and pre-packaged to go.
Sure, they’re minimally spiced. But if you check out the busy butcher’s website, you’ll see a recipe for Frango no Churrasco that shows you what to add to make the frugal fowl even tastier: a squeeze of fresh lemon, a handful of dried red chilli flakes, a splash of olive oil, and a toss of sea salt.
Throw in a loaf of Portuguese cornbread, and a couple of bucks-worth of salad fixings, and you’ve got an easy summer heatwave dinner — and a damned delish one, to boot — for under a ten-spot.
