Should you stop throwing away your food?
Bacalhau à Brás is flaked cod scramble-fried with garlic, egg, and shoestring or French fries. Green or black olives (the latter more typical) and chopped parsley provide the garnish. No one is quite sure who Brás was, but the dish he invented remains one of the most popular on Portuguese menus.
You'll see bacalhau dishes chalked up on menu boards in all four corners of Portugal. This is salted cod, as ubiquitous as the sardine but available year round. It's said that there are 365 different ways of preparing bacalhau, one for each day of the year. While that number should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt, there's no doubt that bacalhau dishes number some of the most delicious and authentic in the country.
Tourists staying in Porto should take the Francesinha challenge—eating a whole monster sandwich known as the "little Frenchie." This almighty obstacle of sausage and bacon, pork, and beefsteak wedged between two slices of bread and drowned in melted cheese, hot beer, and tomato sauce will test even the most gargantuan of appetites. Good luck!
One of Portugal's national dishes, charcoal-grilled sardines are a summertime treat and consumed widely across the country. Whether you eat them with just some corn bread or a simple salad is up to you!
More palatable perhaps is prego no pão, a beefsteak sandwich often served with a light crispy salad and optional mustard pot.
There's a café in Belém, Lisbon where they've been making pastéis de natas, or custard tarts, since 1837. While these mouthwatering cream delights are available everywhere in Portugal, they originate as pastéis de Belém, made to a secret recipe handed down from the neighboring Jerónimos monastery.
If you're taking a vacation in northern Portugal, don't miss sampling this hearty and heavy meat and bean stew. Each region has its own variety, and admittedly it's a dish best savored on a cold winter's day. But it's a beautifully rich and textured meal, and goes down a treat with a bold red wine.
A spectacularly flavorsome dish, polvo à lagareiro is grilled octopus tentacles set over baked potatoes and drizzled in olive oil. Onion, garlic, tomato, and parsley seasoning make it all the more inviting.
These oval-shaped savories are made of cod, mashed potato, onion, and parsley. They are sometimes served as a meal, but are more often sold as a tasty snack to go.
The cataplana is a cooking vessel made of copper and consisting of two close-fitting concave halves, resembling a wok with handles that snap together. It first appeared in the Algarve when the region was under Moorish rule, during the 11th and 12th centuries. Mussels, clams, and other shellfish are cooked in this odd-looking utensil, which is so unique there's even a summer cataplana festival held in its honor.
This hearty and aromatic broth hails from Portugal's Alentejo region. It's a bread-based thick soup made with garlic and coriander. A poached egg tops the lot.
Gomes de Sá was a 19th-century salt-cod merchant who lived in Porto. He created probably the most authentic bacalhau dish, a combination of flaked cod soaked in milk then browned in the oven with olive oil, diced potatoes, onion, garlic, and pepper. It's served topped with slices of boiled egg, chopped parsley, and olives.
Widely appreciated and often adorned with embroidery-like patterns and motifs made with cinnamon, sweet rice is found in the simplest of cafés to the finest Michelin venues.
Caldeirada de peixe is a delicious fish stew often combining sea bass with grouper and monk fish. Potatoes, onion, red and green peppers, and sprigs of parsley keep them company.
Prepared as it should be, roast kid (or lamb) should literally melt in your mouth. This is countryside fare at its finest. Where you can, order it with roast potatoes, spinach, and a sprig of rosemary.
Speaking of Madeira, an island staple is stewed scabbardfish. The scabbardfish is a fearsome-looking species, but is light and delicate in taste. It's usually served in a red vegetable sauce and kept company by boiled potatoes sprinkled with parsley.
Considered the most typical of Portuguese soups, caldo verde originates from the country's northern Minho region. It's made from finely shredded collard greens and potatoes. A few slices of seasoned and spicy chouriço are added for a savory kick.
Somewhat of a specialty dish, pork cheeks (bochechas) braised in red wine with migas (bread and garlic), spinach, and potato is another recipe plucked from the hinterland.
Snacks in Portugal are generally termed as petiscos, or appetizers, and usually refer to savory or spicy bite-sized morsels. On your travels look out for rissois de camarão (shrimp rissole), the aforementioned pastéis de bacalhau, and croquettes de carne (meat croquette).
Lagosta (lobster) is a pricey treat but well worth splashing out for. A seaside special is lobster served in a saffron and lemon sauce.
Octopus is also served widely with rice, as polvo com arroz. The fragrant ingredients include onion, parsley, a dash of chili power, and white wine vinegar.
This simple boiled meat and veg put-together is a staple for thousands of everyday Portuguese. Inexpensive and plated up promptly, it's a tasty belly filler that hardly leaves room for dessert.
The great Portuguese standby, grilled spicy chicken and fries with salad is a meal to remember, enjoyed as it often is in good company in large groups with plenty of beer and wine to wash it all down with.
The Portuguese have quite a sweet tooth, and rounding up a meal with a sugary treat is quite the norm. A popular pudding anywhere, pudim flan is crême caramel, with or without a sprig of mint.
Chocolate mousse is another sweet star of the table. If you're traveling with kids, this is the one they'll likely want.
Sources: (We Travel Portugal) (Visit Algarve) (Arab America)
Almonds, along with olives, figs, and other culinary goodies, were introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors, and almond trees today grow freely throughout Portugal, especially in the Algarve. Almond tart is just one of numerous dessert options we can thank Arab influence for.
A standout snack is empada de galinha, a palm-sized pie of shortcrust pastry filled with seasoned chicken cuts. They are sold throughout Portugal, but try and find a shop or café where the pies are made on the premises and offered still warm.
Steak and fries, Portuguese style. A delicious, no-nonsense fry-up, bitoque graces most restaurant menus.
Tuna (atum) thrives in the warm summer waters off the Algarve coast. Order a tuna steak with salad and savor one of the prized dishes of the region.
There's nothing quite like a platter of grilled limpets served in their shells with a lemon slice. This is a dish served at most oceanfront restaurants, but is especially representative of Madeira and the Azores.
Portugal is currently one of the few European countries open to foreign tourists, and has started to welcome overseas visitors with open arms. One of the great pleasures of a stay in Portugal is sampling its cuisine. The nation is blessed with a cherished culinary tradition, influenced by its seafaring heritage and an ingrained affinity with the countryside. To the Portuguese, it's not enough to just eat; it's important to eat well, and to speak about it, too. It's a nourishing narrative that's translated into numerous menus across the nation—lists that feature recipes handed down from generation to generation, and waiting to be discovered by those from far-off lands.
Click through and work up an appetite for a taste of Portugal.
Portugal has its own unique take on the "surf and turf" dish—carne de porco à alentejana. This is an odd but exciting marriage of pork loin and cockles prepared in a wine, garlic, and paprika marinade. Visually stunning and extremely appetizing, this is a meal all foreign travelers should try.
Discover the taste of Portugal
The joys of Portuguese gastronomy
FOOD Europe
Portugal is currently one of the few European countries open to foreign tourists, and has started to welcome overseas visitors with open arms. One of the great pleasures of a stay in Portugal is sampling its cuisine. The nation is blessed with a cherished culinary tradition, influenced by its seafaring heritage and an ingrained affinity with the countryside. To the Portuguese, it's not enough to just eat; it's important to eat well, and to speak about it, too. It's a nourishing narrative that's translated into numerous menus across the nation—lists that feature recipes handed down from generation to generation, and waiting to be discovered by those from far-off lands.
Click through and work up an appetite for a taste of Portugal.