Portugal tourist information

Portuguese cuisine is characterised by rich, filling and full-flavoured dishes and is a prime example of a Mediterranean diet. The influence of Portugal's former colonial possessions is clear, especially in the wide variety of spices used. These include piri piri (small, fiery chilli peppers), as well as cinnamon, vanilla and saffron. There are also Arab and Moorish influences, especially in the south of the country. Olive oil is one of the bases of Portuguese cuisine both for cooking and flavouring meals. Garlic is widely used, as are herbs such as coriander and parsley.

Breakfast
Portuguese breakfasts often consist of fresh bread, with butter, cheese or fruit preserves accompanied with strong coffee or milk. Sweet pastries are also very popular, as well as breakfast cereals eaten cold and mixed with milk or yoghurt and fruit.

Fish and seafood
Portugal is a seafaring nation at heart and this is reflected in the amount of fish and seafood eaten. Fish is served grilled, boiled (including poached and simmered), fried or deep-fried, stewed (often in clay pot cooking) or even roasted. Foremost amongst these is bacalhau which means salted cod and is the type of fish most consumed in Portugal. It is said that there are more than 365 ways to cook cod, one for every day of the year. Cod is almost always used dried and salted because the Portuguese fishing tradition in the North Atlantic developed before the invention of refrigeration - therefore it needs to be soaked in water or sometimes milk before cooking. The simpler fish dishes are often flavoured with virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar.

Portugal has been fishing and trading Cod since the 15th century and this Cod trade has almost epic contours. Also popular are sardines (especially when grilled as sardinhas assadas), octopus, squid, cuttlefish, crabs, shrimp and prawns, lobster, spiny lobster, and many other crustaceans such as barnacles and goose barnacles, hake, horse mackerel (scad), lamprey, sea bass, scabbard (especially in Madeira) and a great variety of other fish and shellfish and molluscs, such as clams, mussels, oysters, periwinkles, and scallops. Caldeirada is a stew consisting of a variety of fish and shellfish with potatoes, tomato and onion.

Sardines used to be preserved in brine for sale in rural areas. Later, sardine canneries developed all along the Portuguese coast. Ray fish is dried in the sun in Northern Portugal. Canned tuna is widely available in Continental Portugal. Tuna used to be plentiful in the waters of the Algarve. They were trapped in fixed nets when they passed the Portuguese southern coast to spawn in the Mediterranean, and again when they returned to the Atlantic.

Portuguese writer Raul Brandao, in his book Os Pescadores has an almost epic description of the catch, as he tells how the tuna is hooked from the raised net into the boats, and how the fishermen would amuse themselves riding the larger fish around the net. Fresh tuna, however, is eaten in Madeira, where tuna steaks are an important item in local cuisine. Canned sardines or tuna, served with boiled potatoes and eggs, constitute a convenient meal when there is not time to prepare anything more elaborate.

Meat and Poultry
Eating meat and poultry on a daily basis was historically a privilege of the upper classes. Meat was a staple at a nobleman's table during the Middle Ages. A Portuguese Renaissance chronicler, Garcia de Resende, describes how an entree at a royal banquet was composed of a whole roasted ox garnished with a circle of chickens. A common Portuguese dish, mainly eaten in winter, is the cozido a portuguesa, which somewhat parallels the French pot au feu, the Spanish cocido, the New England boiled dinner or the Costa Rican casado.

Its composition depends on the cook's imagination and budget. A really lavish cozido may take beef, pork, salt pork, several types of enchidos (such as cured chourico, morcela and chourico de sangue, Linguica, Farinheira, etc.), pig's feet, cured ham, potatoes, carrots, turnips, chickpeas, cabbage and rice. This would be originally a favourite food of the affluent farmer, which later reached the tables of the urban bourgeoisie and typical restaurants.

Tripas a moda do Porto, tripe with white beans, is said to have originated in the 14th century, when the Castilians laid siege to Lisbon and blockaded the Tagus entrance. Portuguese chronicler Fernao Lopes dramatically recounts how starvation spread all over the city. Food prices rose astronomically, and small boys would go to the former wheat market place in search of a few grains on the ground, which they would eagerly put in their mouths when found. Old and sick people, as well as prostitutes, in short anybody who would not be able to aid in the city's defense, were sent out to the Castilian camp, only to be returned to Lisbon by the invaders.

It was at this point that the citizens of Porto decided to organize a supply fleet that managed to slip through the river blockade. Apparently, since all available meat was sent to the capital, for a while Porto residents were limited to tripe and other organs. Others claim that it was only in 1415 that Porto deprived itself of meat to supply the expedition that conquered the city of Ceuta, in North Africa. Whatever the case may be, since at least the 17th century to our days people from Porto have been known as tripeiros or tripe eaters. In addition, Porto region has a typical sandwich called francesinha. Another Portuguese dish with tripe is Dobrada.

Many other meat dishes are included in Portuguese cuisine. Alcatra, beef marinated in red wine and garlic and then roasted, is a traditional of Terceira Island in the Azores. In continental Portugal, alcatra, an Arabic word meaning piece or bit, refers only to a certain expensive meat cut. Carne de porco a alentejana, fried pork with clams, is a popular dish with a misleading name as it originated in the Algarve, not in Alentejo.

Alentejo is a vast, agricultural province, with only one sizable fishing port, Sines, and shellfish would not, in the past, reach the inland areas. On the other hand, all points in Algarve are relatively close to the coast and pigs used to be fed with fish. So clams were added to the fried pork to disguise the fishy taste of the meat. Nowadays, however, nobody would dare to call it carne de porco a algarvia. Legend also says that the dish was developed to test Jewish converts' new Christian faith; consisting of pork and shellfish (two non-kosher items), Marranos were expected to eat the dish in public in order to prove their complete detachment from the Jewish faith.

The Portuguese steak, bife, is a slice of fried beef or pork served in a wine based sauce with fried potatoes, fried rice, or salad. To add a few more calories to this dish an egg, sunny side up, may be placed on top of the meat, in which case the dish acquires a new name, bife com um ovo a cavalo, steak with an egg on horseback. Iscas, fried liver, were a favourite request in old Lisbon taverns. Sometimes they were called iscas com elas, the elas referring to sauteed potatoes.

Small beef or pork steaks in a roll (respectively pregos or bifanas) are popular snacks, often served at beer halls with a large mug of beer. In modern days, however, when time and economy demand their toll, a prego or bifana, eaten at a snack bar counter, may constitute the lunch of a white collar worker. Espetada, a sort of kebab, is very popular in Madeira.

Alheira, a yellowish sausage from Tras-os-Montes, served with fried potatoes and a fried egg, has an interesting story. In the late fifteenth century King Manuel of Portugal ordered all resident Jews to convert to Christianity or leave the country. The King did not really want to expel the Jews, who constituted the economic and professional elite of the kingdom, but was forced to do so by outside pressures.

So, when the deadline arrived, he announced that no ships were available for those who refused conversion - the vast majority - and had men, women and children dragged to churches for a forced mass baptism. Obviously, most Jews maintained their religion secretly, but tried to show an image of being good Christians. Since avoiding pork was a tell-tale practice in the eyes of the Inquisition, converts devised a type of sausage that would give the appearance of being made with pork, but really only contained heavily spiced game and chicken. Nowadays, however, tradition has been broken, and pork has been added to the alheiras.

Jewish influence may have determined some other practices in food preparation and eating habits. Different kinds of unleavened bread and cakes, such as the arrufadas de Coimbra, are baked throughout Continental Portugal and the Azores. In the islands, meat is often repeatedly rinsed in water to clean it of any trace of blood. After chickens are killed, they may be hung up upside down, so the blood may be drained, however, paradoxically, it can be used later for cabidela. Blood spilled on the ground is sometimes covered with dirt, as the passage in Leviticus directs Jews to do. Seafood without scales, such as morays, may be shunned in some areas. And, finally, a point is made of slaughtering animals with a very sharp knife, a practice also exhorted by rabbinical law.

Poultry, easily raised around a peasant's home, was at first considered quality food. Turkeys were only eaten for Christmas or on special occasions such as wedding receptions or banquets. Up to the nineteen thirties, around Christmas time, the farmers from the outskirts of Lisbon would bring herds of turkeys to the city streets for sale. Before being killed, a stiff dose of brandy was forced down the birds' throats to make the meat more tender and tasty, and hopefully to ensure a happy state of mind when the time would come for the use of a sharp knife. Poor people ate chicken almost only when they were sick. Nowadays mass production in poultry farms makes these meats accessible to all classes. Thus bifes de Peru, turkey steaks, became a recent addition to Portuguese tables.

Cheese
There is a wide variety of Portuguese cheeses, especially made from goat's or sheep's milk, or both together. Usually these are very strong-flavoured and fragrant. In the Azores, there is a type of cheese made with cow's milk with a spicy taste (Queijo de Sao Jorge). Traditional Portuguese cuisine does not include cheese in its recipes, so it's eaten by itself before or after the main dishes. Other well known cheeses like Queijo de Azeitao, Queijo de Castelo Branco and Queijo da Serra da Estrela (D.O.P.) which is very strong in flavour, can be eaten soft or more matured. Serra da Estrela is handmade from fresh sheep milk and thistle-derived rennet.

Vegetables
Vegetables that are popular in Portuguese cookery include tomatoes, cabbage, and onions. There are many starchy dishes, such as feijoada, a rich bean stew, and acorda, a thick bread-based casserole generally flavoured with garlic and coriander or seafood. Many dishes are served with salad usually made of tomato, lettuce, and onion flavoured with olive oil and vinegar. Potatoes are also extremely common in Portuguese cuisine, and rice is used more than in any other European cuisine[citation needed]. Soups made from a variety of vegetables are commonly available, one of the most popular being caldo verde, made from moderately thin potato puree, thinly chopped collard greens and slices of chourico.

Drinks
Wine (red, white and green) is the traditional Portuguese drink, Rose being one of the most popular among foreigners but not very appreciated by Portuguese themselves. Vinho Verde, or green wine, is a specific kind of wine, which can be red, white or rose, and is only produced in the northwest (Minho province). The term "green wine" does not refer to the colour of the drink but to the fact that this wine needs to be drunk "young".

A green wine should be consumed as a new wine while a "maduro" wine usually can be consumed mature. Green wines are only produced in the north of Portugal and are usually slightly sparkling. Portuguese wine is of high quality and in the last years has been considered by specialists among the best in the world. Port wine is a fortified wine of distinct flavour produced in Douro normally served with desserts. Vinho da Madeira, is a regional wine produced in Madeira similar to sherry. From the distillation of grape wastes from wine production is made a variety of brandies (called aguardente, literally "burning water") which are very strong tasting. Typical liqueurs such as Licor Beirao and Ginjinha are very popular alcoholic beverages in Portugal.

Desserts
The Portuguese enjoy rich egg-based desserts. These are often seasoned with spices such as cinnamon and vanilla. Perhaps most popular is leite-creme (a set egg custard). Also popular is arroz doce (a typical and popular rice pudding, a must in Christmas time parties), although aletria (a similar dish this time based upon a kind of vermicelli), is common. These are often decorated with elaborate stencilled patterns of cinnamon powder. Other custards include pudim flan. Cakes and pastries are also very popular. Most towns have a local speciality, usually egg or cream based pastry. Originally from Lisbon, but popular nationwide, as well as among the diaspora, are pasteis de nata. These are small, extremely rich custard tarts. In the south specially in the Algarve region, many recipes include almonds and marzipan.