Norm and I took the campervan into Allied Trailer for a new converter/charger, a Parallax 7300 Series Solid State Converter/Charger Section to be exact. Greg said, “why don’t you folks take a walk and get some lunch. We’ll be done in about an hour.” So, off we went, and wandered into an unlikely looking housewares store, Lusa Mercado Imports just next door since they had a nice sign and we were exploring.

There, sits a woman, dressed in purple baseball cap, and purple jacket, on one of two stools at a small counter. There is no menu. No indication that food is served. There are some deli cases with meats, cheeses, and an expresso machine behind. A small display of Portuguese pastries on the counter. We wander thru the few aisles, looking at specialty foods, wines, pickles, olive oil in cans and bottles from Portugal.

The woman in purple starts to talk to us about one of the owners, Edite, and how she has made this wonderful sausage today and how she must tell us all about it and what is in it, and the fact that it is a national specialty and how we must eat some of it. I say, “Is there a menu?” The answer is “no, but you can eat”. We accept and are taken into the back.

Edite Trigo cooks on Wednesdays and Fridays only, and only if she is not too busy with the store. This was our lucky Wednesday for she has made a large Portuguese feast.

We were taken to a very small room were 6 men were eating heartily Portuguese sausages and more. There was homemade sausage of 3 meats and bread, linguisa, chicken, more sausages, some most unusual thick pieces of bacon, potatoes, kale, carrots, and some wonderful small black olives. We were given a plate and served huge amounts. Abilio, Edite’s husband, opened a drawer in the sideboard that held the lovely repast, and gave us silverware, just like home. Then, since all the chairs were occupied at the table, we went back outside to the front of the store and displaced our poor woman who had insisted that we eat. Who in fact, had introduced us to this wonderful secret. She ate her cheese sandwich standing and regaled us with stories of her genealogical trips to Portugal and the Azores.

If you would like to go: Lusa Mercado Imports, Abilio and Edite Trigo, Owners. 15100 E. 14th. St. San Leandro, Ca 94578. Call first to see if Edite has cooked for you that day.