The following highlights some of the popular Traditional Portuguese Foods. If you manage to be in an Portuguese restaurant or you are visiting Portugal, I recommend the following:
1. Cataplana de Marisco
Cataplana is a seafood stew cooked in a double copper pan and served with rice or fried potatoes. While the region that traditionally prepares it is the Algarve, one of the best places to try it is the fishing village of Porto Brandão, just across the river from Lisbon. It can be reached by car, but most locals take the ferry that drops them off right in front of the small cluster of restaurants. The best place to enjoy this tasty fish stew is the Porto Brandão restaurant.
2. Bifanas
This is a quick snack that you can easily find in bars and is best served with a cold beer. It’s a sandwich filled with pork marinated in wine, garlic and bay leaf. They are addictive and the best thing is that they are cheap: they cost between 1-3€! One of the best bifanas in Portugal is eaten in Porto, at the Conga bar.
3. Caldo Verde
A soup based on mashed potatoes and strips of couve galega (Galician or forage cabbage), the herb that gives it its characteristic green colour. Other ingredients include garlic and olive oil, the combination of which gives a typical smell to some of the streets of Lisbon, Porto and other Portuguese cities where the soup is served, and is also popular in Brazil. The Portuguese usually prepare caldo verde on holidays and after midnight on New Year’s Eve.
4. Bacalhau
It is more than a traditional dish; it is a national obsession. The dish even has its own nickname, ‘the faithful friend’, and is traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve in Portugal. There are hundreds of different recipes and versions of this classic, but bacalao al brás is one of the best; a combination of onions, fried potatoes, olives, parsley, egg and, of course, cod.
5. Frango no Churrasco
Chicken piri piri, also known as “Portuguese fried chicken”, is a very typical recipe that originated in the Age of Discoveries, when the Portuguese travelling to Mozambique brought back piri-piri. This sauce, combined with the typical grilled chicken, becomes one of the simplest, most common and delicious dishes of Portuguese cuisine, very famous in Anglo-Saxon countries.
6. Tripas à Moda do Porto
It is a very winter dish because the caloric potential is overflowing. The ingredients include ham, chorizo, veal, chicken, pig’s ear and other secrets of each producer. The tripe is served mixed with white beans and a separate dish with baked rice. As you can see, it is ideal as a main course and one of the cheapest and most hearty dishes on the menu. One spice used in this dish is coriander, which is very common in Portuguese cuisine.
7. Queijo Serra da Estrela
The variety of Portuguese cheeses is enough to have a dozen products with a protected designation of origin in Europe. Serra da Estrela was already known in the 12th century, being the oldest cheese in Portugal. It is made from sheep’s milk and is the only one included in the “7 wonders of Portuguese gastronomy”.
8. Francesinha
The Francesinha (French girl in English) was created by Daniel David Silva, who has lived in France for some time. This Portuguese dish is basically an improved croque-monsieur, a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. It is basically a croque-monsieur, but has more layers of cheese and meat, then topped with a light hot sauce. It is served with a side of fries. This dish is much loved by the Portuguese, especially in Porto, as it was the pioneer city where Francesinha was born.
9. Amêijoas à Bolhão Pato
Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato is a traditional Portuguese dish prepared with clams, garlic, coriander, coriander, pepper and salt, seasoned with lemon when served. Some recipes add a little white wine. The clams are cooked in their shells, giving presence to the dish, one of the 21 finalists of the “7 wonders of Portuguese gastronomy” contest.
10. Peixe Grelhado
Portugal leads the ranking of annual fish consumption in the European Union with an average of 57 kilos per person, who mainly eats cod and sardines. The Portuguese eat enormous quantities of sardines every year, whether grilled, grilled, canned, baked, in pâté or in mousse. One of the favourites is cooked on the grill.
If you found this list useful, here are some more Traditional European Foods to try out on my Pinterest channel.