“I'm happy to try every custard tart in Lisbon so you don't have to,” says Célia Pedroso, a freelance journalist, food tour guide and co-author of "Eat Portugal - The Essential Guide to Portuguese Food.”

Célia developed a sweet tooth early as she fondly recalls baking cakes with her mother and grandmother and "cleaning" the rice pudding pot with a spoon. But she also has a taste for the seafood so plentiful in Portugal. Her favorite dishes are stuffed squid and Bacalhau à Brás, a salt cod dish scrambled with eggs and potatoes.

After studying tourism and languages in Lisbon, Célia worked in many newspapers and magazines. She is now a freelance journalist writing mostly about travel and food. In 2013 she co-launched Eat Drink Walk. The gastronomic tours introduce small groups of eight or less to restaurants, bars and shops “off the beaten path." Célia now runs Eat Portugal Food Tours.

“I love sharing the great food of Portugal with people from other countries. When I wrote the book (‘Eat Portugal’), a friend and journalist from London suggested I should do food tours that help visitors experience Lisbon’s culinary delights the way the locals do.”

To help foodies find their own way, she penned the Portugal entries for "1001 Restaurants You Must Experience before You Die” and is working on a "new and bigger edition" of “Eat Portugal.”

To contact Célia, email cem.pedroso@gmail.com or find her on twitter @celiapedroso.