Portuguese Traditional Food

Portuguese Traditional Food

       DRINK

 Vinho do Porto/ Port wine

 Port wine is a natural and fortified wine produced exclusively from grapes. This alcoholic beverage was known as "port wine" from the second half of the seventeenth century because it was exported around the world from Oporto. There are three types of Port wine: White, Ruby and Tawny. This product is very appreciated by British people which are its main international consumers.

         SOUP

Caldo verde / Green broth

“Green broth” may not sound like the name of a world-class soup, but that's just what “caldo verde” is. Considered by many as Portugal’s national dish, this soup gets its green color from finely sliced kale added to the simmering stockpot for a couple minutes just before serving. Kale and potato soup is traditionally prepared with spicy “chouriço” (sausage). 



 

Canja/ Chicken soup

Chicken soup is a typical Portuguese soup made of rice or risoni pasta and chicken meat. Chicken soup has, in the popular culture of the country, medicinal properties, particularly in fighting colds or when someone feels sick or has a stomachache. 
 
 

          FISH        

Bacalhau / Codfish

Codfish is a very strong flavored fish, intensified by the curing process (dry and salted) and it’s a Portuguese traditional dish. You can boil it, fry it, stew it, grill it, roast it or make it into balls. Portuguese who actually enjoy this traditional dish consider that there are 1,001 different ways of preparing it. The most famous recipes are “bacalhau com todos, bacalhau à gomes de Sá, bacalhau com natas” and “bacalhau à brás”.
  

 MEAT

Feijoada (beans with pork meat and cabbage)

Feijoada was originated around the 14th century in the Northern region of Portugal. Feijoada is made with red pork meat and kidney beans. During that time meat was scarce, so the poor peasants began using every part of the pig as the basis of their diets along with beans and cabbage which were easily available.
 
 

Carne de porco à Alentejana / Pork meat

Pork meat is a delicious meat course. It takes wine, paprika, salt and pepper, garlic cloves, bay leaf, and cubed meat. The meat is put in a marinade to acquire flavour and texture and then slowly cooked. Before serving it is mixed with fried potato cubes and pickles. 
 
 
 

DESSERT

Pastéis de nata  / Portuguese custard tarts

Pastéis de nata are Portuguese custard tarts.  The tarts are said to have been created by the Catholic nuns of the Jerónimos Monastery of Belém before the 18th century.  Since the monastery’s closure in the 1820s the only source for the original tarts–pastéis de Belém–is Antiga Confeitaria de Belém, a pastry shop just outside of Lisbon.  Pastéis de nata are a delicious sweet dessert that everyone loves!! 

    Arroz Doce / Rice Pudding

Rice pudding is a traditional Portuguese dessert made with milk, sugar and rice. It is usually decorated geometrically with cinnamon powder. It can be eaten hot or cold. Some people add egg yolk to it to improve its flavour and colour. 

          by Diana Tavares and Inês Gonçalves 9º H, 26 th May 2014