What can you expect to eat in Portugal

Portuguese food is very delicious and you can find a tremendous variety.

Garlic and herbs to make their food incredibly tasty. As you might expect from their geography.

Bacalhau

Portuguese eat a lot of fish and one of the most traditional dishes is the “bacalhau” (salted and dried cod fish). They actually say that there are 365 ways to cook bacalhau - a new recipe for every day of the year!

The most popular bacalhau dishes are:

• "Bacalhau com Natas" which translates to "Cod with cream" 
• "Bacalhau à Brás" which translates to "Cod à la Brás," a dish prepared with scramble eggs, potatoes and shredded cod. 

Don't forget to ask for Bolinhos de Bacalhau, they are amazing!

Sardinhas Assadas "grilled sardines"

The traditional season for Sardines in Portugal is July during the religious festivals. Sardines feature in everything from large banquets to fast food stalls where you eat one on a piece of bread while standing and drinking a glass of wine or sangria.

Sardines for grilling need to be absolutely fresh, medium size and pre-salted for at least 30 minutes.

You can also have them with potatos.

Cozido de grão

Chickpeas stew is also delicious. The word "cozido" really doesn't have a correct translation, because it is not quite a real stew.

In Portuguese cuisine you often find dishes named "cozido", because everything in that dish is boiled rather than braised or stewed.
This is an excellent dish from the Serra de Monchique, Algarve.

Leitão da Bairrada

Leitão da Bairrada, is suckling pig. It has a crunchy golden rind that's drenched in garlic and pepper and soft meat.

It is a regional dish and very appreciated by the region of Bairrada and there are years and years of tradition, between Coimbra e Anadia.

 

Cozido à Portuguesa

Cozido à Portuguesa is a stew made from every imaginable Portuguese meats including beef, pork, and sausages (including blood sausage), mixed with all sorts of boiled veggies and potatoes. It's usually served topped with lots of olive oil and at least one copo de vinho (glass of wine).

Bitoque

Bitoque is steak with an egg sunny side up over it, fries, rice or potato chips as a side dish and a salad. This dish can be found at any Portuguese restaurant or even at malls as fast food.

Feijoada Tramontana

Feijoada, is Portugal’s version of Chili. It originated around the 14th century in the Northern region of Portugal. During that time meat was scarce, so the poor peasants began using every part of the pig as a staple in their diets along with beans and cabbage which were easily available.

To prepare it, a stew of beans of Trás-os-Montes, is prepared with white beans and cabbage cut into strips. Usually, it was cooked at the earliest hours of the day, to be re-heated for lunch, and, therefore, getting even more tasteful.

Caldo Verde

This nourishing and nutritious soup is one of the signature dishes of Portuguese cuisine. Tinted a subtle green by finely shredded kale or collard greens, and thickened with potatoes, caldo verde is often served with spicy chouriço sausage and a slice of the thick cornmeal bread called "broa." Caldo Verde orginated in northern Portugal, but it is now enjoyed all around the country. Caldo Verde is common at celebrations and is often eaten as the first meal after midnight on New Year's Day. It is also popular in Brazil.



You may not be aware of this, but the Portuguese are excellent bakers and pastry makers, each famed for their traditional local pastries. I will give you a couple of deserts from Portugal.

Baked Custard Tarts

These are "the reigning monarch of desserts in Lisbon and, frankly, in all of Portugal.

Pudim de leite

"Pudim de Leite" is Portuguese for “Milk Pudding” and it is very similar to Creme Caramel; which comes from France. However, I was taught how to make this pudding the Portuguese way!  It is a very easy pudding, very cheap and it tastes delicious!