Lauren Covas is a proud Portuguese-American chef, two-time Food Network champ and now the author of “Little Portugal”, her cookbook that champions and highlights the Portuguese dishes and flavors of her youth, where, as she recalls, there was always something cooking in the kitchen: night and day.

For Lauren, food is deeply rooted in family and this conversation highlights this heritage, as she recalls her youth spent in the kitchen helping her parents prepare food.

As a proud lover of her Portuguese roots, Lauren adores bacalhau, of course, even claiming that the salted fish should be Portugal’s mascot. Host Tony Gonçalves nods in agreement.