DAN AND CHRISTINE Enright explain the origins of Little Portugal Bakery: “We honor our Portuguese heritage with baked goods and foods from the kitchens and villages of our Portuguese ancestors. Both our mothers came from the Azores in the 1960s.” At that time life in the Azores was primitive, with no electricity, no running water, and few cars. Both mothers emigrated to California’s central valley near Turlock.
The Azores are Portuguese territory, a volcanic island chain almost 900 miles west of Portugal in the Atlantic, where the North American, Eurasian and African tectonic plates collide. The central valley had well established Portuguese communities and a similar climate, so it felt like home. Dan said, “my grandfather’s back yard was entirely food, with not a speck of rock or grass — all garden, fruit trees and the most delicious grapes.”
Raised with these strong agrarian cultural and community roots, Dan and Christine looked for a way to continue the traditions while raising their family. They fell in love with Prescott, the climate and the rural feeling of north Williamson Valley. In 2021 they found property, built a house, moved in, planted an orchard of figs, apples and pears, and set up to raise pigs, turkeys and chickens. A couple of years later they started a Portuguese-heritage bakery business: the Little Portuguese Bakery was born. Christine had culinary-school training and they tapped into traditional recipes direct from the Azores and Turlock. “We are keeping it as close to everything that was done as possible,” says Christine.
Take the bolos levedos. Dan describes it as “what an English muffin wished it could be before it turned into a hockey puck. They’re soft and tender, with a touch of sweetness. The recipe comes from one island in the Azores where, a hundred years ago, they were baked on a hot lava chute.”
Other traditional bakery goods draw enthusiastic locals to the Prescott Farmers Market every Saturday. People of Portuguese descent and former visitors to Portugal drive hours to get the evocative, distinctive taste of biscocitos, tea biscuits in 14 different flavors, filhos, traditional light and airy donuts, massa sovada and papo secos, traditional Portuguese sweet bread and rolls, pao de lo, orange-scented sponge cake, and suspiros (“sighs”), little meringues that are light, crispy, melt-in-your-mouth and come in 27 flavors.
These and more are available every Saturday at the Prescott Farmers Market or online at littleportugalbakery.com. In everything Dan and Christine use their own farm eggs, organic flours, Farmers Market vegetables, local milk, butter and tallow (no seed oils), and prepare sauces and spreads from scratch.
Last year Dan and Christine bought and outfitted a food truck so they could expand their offerings to traditional breakfasts and lunch sandwiches, a perfect complement to the bakery line. Beef, pork and vegetables are sourced from Farmers Market vendors, and those vendors use Little Portugal breads for their own offerings. Dan and Christine tell me they are “devoted to the market and work with all the vendors as a community. We have not missed one Saturday.” The Little Portugal Bakery food-truck sandwiches feature authentic linguiça, smoked pork sausage marinated in garlic and wine. The recipe came “from Mom’s neighbor in Turlock.”
Check out the PFM Smash Burger (below), described as “house ground L-Bell Ranch beef and Quenga Farms pork patty, sauteed jalapeños and onions, cheddar cheese, topped with a confit garlic aioli on a rosemary garlic cheddar roll,” a less traditional but definitely delicious celebration of the Prescott Farmers Market.
What’s the future? Watch this winter for a line of traditional soups, both hot bowls and cold to-go containers from heritage recipes like kale, beans, potato and smoked bacon or bean stew with linguiça, accompanied by Portuguese cornbread (crusty outside, tender inside). Watch for filhos donuts freshly fried to order. Wow!
Dan has plans for the future. In seven to ten years Little Portugal Bakery could grow into a brick-and-mortar storefront, with bakery, traditional meats, sausages and cheeses, a restaurant and social hall — the second Portuguese hall in the state. Dan says, “We’re all about community, and we love being here.”
You’ll find Little Portugal Bakery every Saturday at the Prescott Farmers Market. The food truck is available for special events. Contact or place an order via littleportugalbakery.com or Facebook at littleportugalbakery.
Chef Molly Beverly is Prescott's leading creative food activist and teacher. Photos by Gary Beverly.
