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What to order at Nos Casa Cafe in Roxbury
Co-owners Ana Maria Fidalgo and Joshua Fidalgo share some of their favorite dishes at their Cape Verdean restaurant in Roxbury.
Located on Dudley Street in Roxbury, Nos Casa is one of the staple restaurants of the neighborhood’s large Cape Verdean community.
However, to Ana Maria Fidalgo and son Joshua, the restaurant is just an extension of their home, with the name “Nos Casa” translating to “our home.”
In 2009, Joshua was completing his sophomore year of college, when his mother, Ana Maria, brought up the idea of opening a restaurant.
“You’re doing what now?” Joshua said, surprised. However, he knew very well that if his mother was committed to something, she would do everything she could to get it done.
Before opening Nos Casa in 2010, Ana Maria had been the owner of Davey’s Super Market in Roxbury for eight years.
Following the passing of her husband in 2001, she knew she wanted to continue to help the local community as best as she could.
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“Where Nos Casa is now used to be a Spanish restaurant, and I would walk by there everyday, until one day I noticed it was closed, and it had a for sale sign on it,” Ana Maria said.
During this time, many people in the area were struggling with job insecurity and unemployment due to the ongoing recession.
“I knew a lady who worked there who was a great cook, and I was hoping I could help get her job back,” she said.
“We had a lot of people who were jobless at the time, and we wanted to provide the community with a place to call their home,” Joshua said. “Here they could get traditional, affordable, healthy, fresh and above all affordable food.”
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Owing to her commitment to support the local community, Nos Casa also provides a community bulletin board with neighborhood news and events.
“People come in, they ask questions and have conversations about what’s going on in the community, what’s going on in Cabo Verde, and we have the [Cape Verdean radio] station playing as much as we can,” Ana Maria said.
“We are in such a diverse neighborhood with different cultures, and we get people from Vietnam, China, Ethiopia, Haiti, Puerto Rico and others coming to Nos Casa,” Joshua said.
“I love seeing people from the other backgrounds in our area come and immerse themselves in the Cape Verdean culture and get attached to the foods that we provide,” he added.
“My mother is also very inclusive. If someone comes in and asks for a particular dish, I can promise you she will research it, and see if she can add it to our menu.”
Below, Ana Maria and Joshua give their top five dish recommendations for what to order at Nos Casa in Roxbury.
Katchupa Refugadu
Made from hominy and lima beans, katchupa is “our main dish from Cabo Verde,” Ana Maria said. The dish is typically served alongside vegetables or any kind of fish or meat. At Nos Casa, Ana Maria also serves “katchupa refugadu,” a fried version of katchupa with eggs and sausage. “Many people from Cabo Verde will eat this as a breakfast,” she said.
Canja
Canja, a Cape Verdean soup, is “another popular item on the menu,” Ana Maria said. “The canja is a chicken soup from Cabo Verde, that we make from chicken, rice and other vegetables.”
Pastels
Nos Casa offers several different pastels, which are fried pastries made from flour or potato flour, and “are very popular in Cabo Verde,” Ana Maria said. The most authentic is the tuna pastel, but they also make a beef and cheese pastel, chicken pastel, and now a veggie pastel too, “for the other communities we serve,” Ana Maria said.
Bacalhau
“One of my favorite dishes we make at Nos Casa, other than the katchupa, is the bacalhau,” Ana Maria said. This salted cod dish exemplifies the Portuguese influence on Cape Verdean cuisine. “It is not a traditional dish from Cabo Verde, but we cook it in Cabo Verde a lot, and I love it.”
Cabra
“I would say the cabra is my favorite dish at Nos Casa,” Joshua said. The word “cabra” translates to “goat”, and according to Joshua, this slow-cooked goat dish is best served with couscous and a stew of rock beans, collard greens and pork. “I could have that meal everyday,” he said.
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