New Bedford’s Madeira Feast Was Cancelled So I Had My Own Festa

It's on everyone's mind as the weekend of the annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament has arrived here in New Bedford. The only problem: the feast was canceled once again this year. I'm not going to get political, but whatever the committee's decision was, I respect it regardless.

That's why I'm having my very own feast, and it's been the latest trend this summer and last.

Think about what is needed for a backyard feast:

• A basket full of fresh pre-sliced Portuguese pops, ready to be stuffed with cacoila or chourico and peppers.
• A tray or two of cacoila, because what's a feast without a cacoila sandwich, am I right?
• A tray or two of chourico and peppers, because a feast without chourcio would be blasphemous.
• A cooler full of Sarges or Super Bock beer to quench the thirst.
• A bottle or two or three of Madeira wine, but please for the love of all that's holy, drink it slow. Trust me, you'll thank me later.
• Portuguese decor: flags, banners, random ceramic rooster figurines all over the place.
• A bag of pre-marinated steak tips with sliced peppers and onions.
• Three five-foot skewers for the meat.
• A home made fire pit made of cement blocks with a bed of coals.
• A speaker with either Fun 107 playing via the app or any Portuguese music you might have saved. Take my advice, Jorge Ferreira, Roberto Leal and Marc Dennis never disappoint.

Last but not least, you're going to want to invite your family and friends and encourage everyone to eat as much as possible. What else would you do at a feast?

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I had about 20 of my closest friends and family and between the joyous laughter from the Madeira wine and the bulging waistbands on everyone's pants, I'd say it was a pretty successful feast for 2021. Cheers to getting back to the Feast grounds in 2022; I kind of miss walking shoulder-to-shoulder in a sea of 10,000 people..