Portuguese stew
The Portuguese love olives; they eat a lot of cheese and use a sauce of onion and garlic as a base for almost all their dishes . Customs all very Mediterranean . Nevertheless, the national herb is coriander. The ginger and chillies they add an exotic touch to some dishes such as the popular piri piri chicken that is seasoned with this sauce made with hot peppers that also goes wonderfully with grilled fish. Throughout the country it is known as Frango da Guia and, traditionally, its fame is attributed to a restaurant in the Algarve.
Piri-piri chicken
If we were to design a portuguese menu –it is not easy because there are too many specialties to choose from- these would be the dishes that could not be missing. And be careful when ordering in the restaurant because the portions are XXL size.
TO OPEN MOUTH
Cheese, olives, butter and oil
The cheese could be Sierra of the Star , a creamy pecorino cheese cake, which is wrapped in a cloth while it is tender. It is tasty and with a slight acid-bitter touch at the end. but also the famous Saint George cheese which is produced in the Azores islands with cow's milk, with a strong aroma and slightly spicy flavor, or the one in Castelo Branco , a smooth, unctuous and intense cow's milk cheese. All three are protected by D.O., but there are other interesting and delicious ones.
Olives, green or black, They are almost always served seasoned and it is common to use them in the kitchen, as one more ingredient.
The Portuguese butters are of very high quality , as in general all dairy products produced in the country. Spread on bread, which is also magnificent, especially in the northern regions, it is a real downfall.
The same thing happens with the olive oil , one of the products –along with wines- that Portugal exports. There are seven regions with D.O.: Azeite de Moura, Azeite de Trás-os-Montes, Azeites de Ribatejo, Azeites del Norte Alentejano, Azeite da Beira Alta, Azeite de Beira Baixa and Interior de Alentejo.
Green soup
FIRST COURSE
Soup is never missing on the Portuguese table . Perhaps the most popular of all is the "green soup" , considered the Portuguese national dish, more common in homes than cod itself. It is made with potatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, chorizo and a cabbage that receives the name of Galician Couve . It wouldn't be bad either a fish soup . In each coastal town they prepare it in a different way, and that is the grace.
Bacalhau pataniscas
From sea
The Portuguese they are big ichthyophagous, they love fish . More than 80 different varieties are caught on the coast, including shellfish and molluscs, but the star is cod ( bacalhau ), which, although it is not fished on the coast, is obtained on the banks of the North Atlantic. They know how to cook it in a hundred different ways. The most popular recipes are: Bacalhau à Brás o dourado (with fried potatoes and egg), Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá (baked, with potatoes and boiled egg), a las natas (cooked in cream) and pataniscas (fritters).
Cod, the myth of the Portuguese table
Sardines and red mullet are the favorites of the Lisbon people , Meanwhile in the octopus It is the weakness of the whole country. In the south triumph skewers , skewers in which the chopped fish are inserted to roast them over coals.
Portuguese octopus drying
From the earth
The pig is the totem of the indoor kitchen . From North to South of the country it is used. Everything is used, from the snout to the tail, whether fresh, cured or in sausages.
Is in the Alentejo area where the best are produced, the Iberian breed pigs that are fed on acorns in the dehesa. That is why the most popular dish is Alentejo-style pork, stewed with clams and potatoes, a kind of “sea and mountain” that shows how fond the Portuguese are of seafood. Another very popular dish, especially in the center of the country, is Bairrada Law , suckling pig (a few months old pig) roasted in the oven.
THE GOURMET NOTE
In this chapter if the choice is complicated. The Portuguese have a big sweet tooth and the country's pastries are varied and excellent. Undoubtedly the most popular are the pastels de nata de Belén: tartlets filled with gratin egg cream. No less delicious are the Sintra quesadas, with a sprinkle of salt; the moles eggs from Aveiro; the typical Braga Abade de Priscos pudding or the figcheese, a fig and walnut cake, which has not a drop of cheese despite the name
Belém cakes
IF YOU PREFER A SINGLE DISH
The caldeiradas of the North and the cataplanas of the South, they are fish and vegetable stews, substantial and healthy
THE TIME FOR CONTEMPORARY CUISINE
Along with popular cuisine linked to history and territory, a handful of young chefs are trying to put Portugal on the map of contemporary cuisine . Among the brightest Joseph Avillez , perhaps the best contemporary Portuguese chef, and Lionel Pereira.
Although international guides focus on hotel cuisine, especially in the Algarve, it is in Lisbon and Porto where the battle of modernity is being played out. Names like Enrique Mouro (Assinatura), Luis Americo (Mesa), Ricardo Costa (Yeatman), Rui Paula (DOC) or Victor Sobral (Tasca da Esquinha) are the ones that are pulling Portuguese cuisine upwards.
Fish and seafood stew
These are the addresses where you can try the best current Portuguese cuisine, performed by the great chefs of the moment:
Belcanto
Modern, daring and sparkling cuisine signed by Jose Avillez, in an emblematic place in the Chiado neighborhood which has been completely renovated. A place to share illusions and culinary concerns. Largo de São Carlos, 10. Lisbon. Average price: €60.
Cantinho do Avillez
Informal space of chef José Avillez. Dishes from the traditional Portuguese cookbook. Perfect to rediscover Portuguese cuisine always well made. Rua dos Duques de Bragança, 7. Lisbon. Average price: €30
assignment
Chef's Modern Kitchen Enrique Mouro . The letter moves between yesterday and today and is committed to integration. Rua Vale Pereiro, No. 19. Lisbon. Average price: €45.
Enrique Mouro's restaurant
Tasca da Esquina
Lovely House of contemporary dining where you can enjoy good traditional cuisine dishes signed by chef Víctor Sobral. Rua Domingos Sequeira, 41 C, Campo de Ourique. Lisbon. Average price: €30.
Table
the young chef Luis Americo bet on an updated regional cuisine in this restaurant of contemporary classics. Rua Domingos Pinto Brandão, 75. Porto. Average price €50.
The Yeatman
Creative cuisine signed by Richard Costa that covers the entire Portuguese regional cookbook and interprets it in a new way. _Rua do Choupelo (Sta. Marinha) . Vilanova de Gaia. Average price: €80. Express menu €38 (noon only) _
Doc
Chef Rui Paula applies modern cooking techniques to regional products and renews the local recipe book. The menu oscillates between tradition and modernity. National Road, 222, Folgosa- Armamar. Rule. Average price €50.
Soul
Henrique Sá Pessoa reviews the traditional cuisine in this beautiful place. Calçada Marques de Abrantes, 92/94. Lisbon. Average price: €35.
*** You may also be interested in...**
- Gadgets of the world: the Portuguese cataplana
- Forbidden to pass by: the Portuguese Alentejo
- Have breakfast in Lisbon
- Sintra: bizarre and essential Portugal
- From Aveiro to Peniche: a road trip through the center of Portugal
- Good morning, Serra da Estrela!
- All articles by Álvaro Anglada
Rui Paula, the chef of the DOC restaurant