It was in 1543 that a Chinese ship with three Portuguese sailors on board was swept off course on its way to Macau. The ship ended up on the Japanese island of Tanegashima, making these three unsuspecting sailors the first Europeans to ever step foot on Japanese soil. From this accidental beginning, Portuguese trade with Japan slowly began, initially focused on guns, but also household items such as soap, wool, tobacco and, eventually, recipes.

The Japanese adapted the recipe for peixinhos da horta by lightening the batter. Over the centuries, they developed batter-making into an art form, elevating the humble fritter coating to a delicate, almost transparent, gauze. They also used their own, seasonal and regional produce as fillings. Now, everything from shrimp to fugu (the potentially deadly blowfish), and shiitake mushrooms to sweet potatoes, are turned into tempura, traditionally served with a dipping sauce, usually made from dashi stock, rice wine and soy sauce.

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The origin of the name “tempura” is believed to stem from the Latin word “tempora”, which refers to times of fasting when the Catholic Church dictated that followers avoid eating meat. During these periods, Portuguese Catholics would batter and fry vegetables instead of poultry or fish. The Portuguese translation of peixinhos do horta is “little fish of the garden”.

“I think of it as one of the first signs of globalisation,” says João Rodrigues, head chef at Michelin-starred Restaurante Feitoria in Lisbon. “Tradition is a big contradiction, because what we call tradition now was at some point evolution. Times and wills change, and people change, so food has to change as well.”

The adventurous Portuguese sailors of the 15th and 16th centuries were instrumental in moving many edible items around the world – they introduced chillies from the Americas to India, for example.

They also took exotic ingredients back home to Portugal, especially from the nation’s former colonies.

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“All the former colonies, such as Macau, Goa, Angola, Cabo Verde, Brazil and Mozambique, have all had a great influence on Portuguese food. Beans, peppers, tomato, potatoes, chilli, yucca [cassava], sweet potato, and coriander – these are things that are in almost every dish in Portuguese traditional cooking,” says Rodrigues.

“We need to tell these stories to show the influence that the Portuguese, and, of course, many others, have had on gastronomy today.”

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Where are Singapore noodles from? How are century eggs made? Are French fries improperly named? And what’s the final verdict on where tikka masala was created? With the Origins series, STYLE delves into the often surprising beginnings of iconic dishes or foods, how they’ve evolved over time and the many ways they’re enjoyed today.