Whether it’s mood music from his guitar or food from his kitchen, creativity comes naturally to Maumau, owner-chef of Águas de Bacalhau restaurant in Braga, northern Portugal.

The convivial Rio de Janeiro native is a lively, conversational host who learned his culinary skills at various Michelin-style restaurants before opening his own restaurant here three years ago.

Feasting on a tasting menu at the chef’s table on the ground floor a few steps from the street entrance beside an open kitchen proved to be an enjoyable afternoon’s escape from reality, especially with rain pouring down rhythmically outside.

Here at a polished oak table sculpted and shaved by Maumau (real name Mauricio Horsth) and his son, Matteo, we savored some of Portugal’s finest traditional cuisine, from cod to pork to duck, prepared with precision by Maumau and his chef- team of Julio, Cezar and Agustina.

Adding charm to the occasion, the chairs my companion and I sat on were designed by staff members, with ones painted with the letters RIP and LIP (‘Dine in Peace’ and ‘Lunch in Peace’). Colorful wall murals surrounded us, the work of Eky One, a talented Porto artist.

Our various dishes were served on traditional plates, often with wooden bases below them and the cutlery was intricately designed silver, a pleasure to eat with.

First, the bread. Or, in the native language, ‘broa com azeite de oliva.’ Traditional homemade Portuguese cornbread. Delightfully dense. Sweet, a little spiced, accompanied with olive oil, which you dip your bread into. If you’re more a fan of butter, you can also enjoy broa, a smoked version with chlorophyll powder. 

Fermented lupin beans with olive oil followed and then a gourmet ball comprising threads of parmesan, creamy sweet corn, cheese from the Azores and onion gel. 

Pie came next, boat-shaped and filled with a blend of chives, wild pork, chimichurri, truffle emulsion and what Maumau jokingly described as a ‘poison,’ a potent mix of Carolina Reaper chilli pepper, scorpion nuts, palm oil, cardamon, with a sprinkling of onion and wine powder.

Delicious homemade sausages were up next, both smoked with olive wood, one with tingling chorizo and the other a mix of bread and chicken, a version specific to the region known commonly as ‘Jewish sausage, both accompanied by pickled onions.

With the restaurant named after Portugal’s most popular fish, cod (bacalhau), it was inevitable this cold-water variety would make its appearance. And it did, with its skin deliciously crispy, cooked in a garum sauce of carrots, beans and chorizo. 

Remaining oceanside, a dish of octopus with rice arrived at table with small cubes of beetroot and chives and the lingering smell of citrus from natural orange flavoring.

To finish off our tasting odyssey, Maumau served up duck Brazilian-style, or ‘pato no tucupi,’ shredded roasted duck boiled in tucupi, a sauce derived from the manioc root in the Amazon region. 

I know it’s cliché description, but so smooth was the orange ice-cream on a bed of ginger crumbles and silk-like zabayon that I chose for dessert, it simply melted in my mouth. No more need be said.

For chocolate lovers. Don’t miss out on the namelaka, translated as ‘smooth’ or ‘creamy’ in Japanese, a velvety, slightly firm style of ganache. White chocolate crumble and dark chocolate ice-cream topped with hazelnuts and pralines and libated with a lime cream sauce. Yum-yum.

As a going-away gift, Maumau kindly presented my companion with a vacuum-packed black lime, after being fermented for many weeks, “a treasure,” as my companion declared. A strong, flavor-enhancing delicacy, it’s often powdered and used in small quantities to add tangy, smoky, earthy notes to various dishes.

And then, to make our day’s enjoyment complete, when we stepped outside, the rain had stopped and a leisurely stroll through the historic center of Braga awaited us.