These Days - 10 Questions with Zé
Shaped by the pine forests of Sintra, the chef behind Ostra da Terra spends his days foraging, cooking whatever’s in season, and rarely coming home without mushrooms.
Zé during a few slow, winter days spent off-grid.
1. To kick things off, tell us a bit about yourself?
I am the typical person who never got used to city life. Even today, it is difficult for me to settle in the city. I need to be close to the sea and the pine forests of Sintra.
My love for food started when I was six years old, watching my father catch large sea bass, sea bream, and octopus. At that time, my brother and I started catching crabs in the pools on the beach with a bucket. My mother was always very concerned!
2. How did mushrooms find their way into your life?
In the fall, many mushrooms grew near my childhood house. I didn't pay much attention to them until I started working at Santa Clara dos Cogumelos, a restaurant that specialises in mushrooms. That's when I began to appreciate their usefulness, colors, aromas, and textures.
Mushrooms are art, cuisine, and inspiration! I have to thank Filipe, Luigi, and Sofia.
3. Be honest, how many different types of mushroom are in your house right now?
After a few days off-grid in the Alentejo, my house is now filled with mushrooms from the region. With so many cork oak trees, it was just a matter of looking in the right places.
I found chanterelles, craterellus, lactarius, black trumpet mushrooms, pied mouton, and fresh wood ear mushrooms here - so 6 different types haha.
4. Starting a food concept isn’t easy – what’s been the hardest part of getting Ostra da Terra off the ground?
I think there are two major challenges... The first is introducing a new “wild-to-table” catering concept in Portugal. The second is convincing people that mushrooms are incredible in the kitchen, and not dangerous at all.
5. And on the flip side, what’s been the most rewarding part so far?
After doing this for a while, I realized that what motivates me is people's positive energy around food and eating together. It’s the huge number of people I meet and have a good time with - whether looking for mushrooms, sitting around the table, or in workshops.
5. You recently stayed with us at Hiide - what were you expecting before you arrived?
I already knew the weather wouldn't be that good, but I really wanted to go because I needed to take a break from work, reset, and do only what Ostra da Terra does — search for mushrooms and cook with seasonal ingredients I find, using just a few ingredients that dictate the dish.
I can say that those were the best days of my winter.
6. Did being off-grid change the way you think about work or cooking? Did the slower pace spark anything new?
Absolutely. I feel that calmness and concentration are within us - we just need to eliminate external stimuli and give our body what it needs: good sleep, good food, and nature.
The slower pace of life gave me space to get creative and plan some exciting new foraging events.
7. Walk us through your ultimate cabin meal – what are you cooking, and why?
For me, cooking is shaped by the moment and the ingredients I find. At the cabin, I found plenty of pied mouton mushrooms and decided to make something vegetarian.
Sweet potatoes, baba ganoush, caramelized shallots, and sautéed pied mouton mushrooms in butter and dry white wine. Also inspired by Ottolenghi’s book Simple, which is in the cabin!
9. What was the highlight of your stay?
We had some cosy, rainy days in the cabin, but the real highlight was the day the sun came out. Breakfast outside on the terrace, a long hike with the dogs running free through the cork forest - and plenty of great wild mushrooms for lunch.
10. Finally, what are three things you’d recommend bringing to the cabins?
I brought my knives, but I didn’t even use them because the ones in the cabin were up to the task.
But I’d recommend bringing good hiking shoes, a book, and a bottle of Portuguese red wine!
Zé stayed at our hillside cabin, Mira, in the Alentejo, around 1.5hrs from Lisbon.
