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Book Signings in Portugal, July 2004

Vicki returned to Portugal on 22 June 2006 and spent her remaining days with her son Bill and his wife Emília. She died in Faro on 9 September 2007 and is buried in São Brás de Alportel in the Algarve.

Vicki visited her son Bill and his wife Emília in Portugal from July to September 2004. They live in Peral near São Brás de Alportel . Her book signings were at the Griffin Bookshop in Almancil and at A Lura dos Livros in Tavira. Click on the poster to the right to see it enlarged.

Here is the information that appeared in the local papers:

Vicki Oppenheimer, an American author and food columnist, is currently visiting relatives in the Algarve and will be holding signings of her books in Almancil and Tavira later this month. Vicki, who just published her latest book at the tender age of 95, will be signing copies of The Taste Makers: How New World Foods Came to Old World Kitchens as well as her earlier book On the Nature of Food at the Griffin Bookshop in Almancil on Friday, July 23, and at A Lura dos Livros in Tavira on Thursday, July 29. Both signings start at 11:30 in the morning.  

The Taste Makers is of interest to Portuguese residents for several reasons. Aside from the impact that foods from the Americas had on Portuguese cuisine and the corresponding effect of the Portuguese on our appreciation of these foods – did you know that even the word “meal” comes from the Portuguese “milho”? – the book is illustrated by Mona Luisa Diogo, a Portuguese artist currently living in Rome. The Taste Makers describes the way in which foods from the Americas spread around the globe and changed the tastes and cultures of virtually all nations of the world, and the artist’s illustrations dramatise not only the impacts on European culture, but also the role of American foods in other continents, especially in Africa where she spent her early years.  

Vicki Oppenheimer has had a long career dealing with food, starting during the Second World War when she helped develop recipes for a populace struggling with rationing. Since then she has almost continuously written about food even while working as a literary editor for Doubleday’s and pursuing graduate work in anthropology. She still writes columns about food for several newspapers. Her combined literary and academic background, make her books both a pleasure to read and a reliable source of information about the foods that we enjoy.  

Vicki’s first book, On the Nature of Food, sold out its first printing and is now available in a second edition. Her determination to write and publish The Taste Makers at the age of 95 is evidence of her continuing interest in food, in culture, and in telling stories.

Vicki can be reached in Peral near São Brás de Alportel at the home of her son, Bill Silvert (who runs the Expat website http://expat.silvert.org) and you can call her at 289 845 841 or write to her via expat@silvert.org – she would be delighted to meet with English-speakers who share her interests in food and culture. Her book signings will be at the Griffin Bookshop, Rua 5 de Outubro, 206-A in Almancil on Friday, July 23, and at A Lura dos Livros, Rua Poeta Emiliano da Costa, 16 in Tavira (close to the Citroën agency) on Thursday, July 29. Both signings will be at 11:30 in the morning.

All material on this page is copyrighted 2000-2007 by Violet Oppenheimer unless otherwise stated. None of this material may be reproduced for commercial use without permission. Please contact her son and webmaster William Silvert for further information. This page was last updated on 11-Sep-2007.