What snacks are good to eat when traveling in Portugal?

Introduction

Portugal actually has a lot of delicious food, especially seafood. The most important thing in their food is the freshest local ingredients - the best seafood, under the abundant sunshine. Ripe fruits, sheep raised in flower-strewn meadows, free-range pigs... without these, the food would not taste the same.

Portugal finally won the first European Cup championship in history. As a football lover, you should also go to Portugal. This small country located in the westernmost part of the European continent has always been an underestimated travel destination by many because it is close to Spain. Even the food here has the same treatment.

We give you 20 reasons to eat in Portugal!

1. Perfect fish

In Europe, only Icelanders eat more fish than Portuguese. Super celebrity chef Ferran Adria said that Portugal’s Atlantic waters produce the best seafood in the world, and you have to remember that he is Spanish. The fish sold in the market are surprisingly rich, ranging from small cuttlefish to tuna the size of a U-shaped boat. If you love fresh grouper grilled with lemon, garlic and olive oil, you've come to the right place.

Spanish super celebrity chef Ferran Adria once said that Portugal’s Atlantic waters produce the best seafood.

2. Liquid Gold Olive Oil

Olive oil is the basis of Portuguese cuisine, whether it is slow-cooked salt cod, a few drops in soup, or fresh from the oven Hot bread from the oven.

Portuguese olive oil is not as famous as other parts of Europe, but it has won many awards.

3. National stews

Portuguese food is very regional. The north eats more meat and has a rougher style, while the south has a Mediterranean style. Only one dish unites the country: cozido stew. This dish is basically a one-pot stew, typically with some beef, pork, and sometimes chicken. There is always cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and sausages, including red and spicy chourico sausages and fennel. Flavored pig blood cake. Some regions have different flavors, such as chickpeas and mint in the Algarve, lamb and pumpkin in the Atrenjo, and sweet potatoes in Madeira. In the Azores, this dish is slowly cooked using volcanic geothermal heat.

If there's one dish that unites the country, it's cozido, the Portuguese stew.

On the Azores island of S?o Miguel, residents often dig a pit underground and use volcanic geothermal heat to slowly cook their food.

4. Lisbon Food Awakening

Portugal’s new generation of chefs have begun to change the capital’s restaurant scene by combining tradition and modernity. The representative figure is Jose Avillez, whose Belcanto restaurant, facing the Sao Carlos theater, won a second Michelin star in 2014. Representative dishes include slow-cooked red mullet with liver jus, clams and oats; and oxtail with foie gras, with chickpeas and creamy feta cheese.

Belcanto is the first two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Portugal

Lisbon star chef Jose Avillez has given a modern interpretation of Portuguese cuisine.

5. King of Cod

People say that there are 365 ways to cook salt cod in Portugal. In fact I think they have more. It’s no exaggeration, we traveled in Portugal and you could have this dish in every restaurant and every meal if you wanted.

Bacalhau is Portuguese for "salted cod" and is usually served with scrambled eggs, olives and chips, just like fish cakes with black-eyed peas, grilled or simply boiled Chopped cabbage and carrots, plus olive oil. In Coimbra it's served with some crumbled cornbread, in Porto it's grilled with mayonnaise, in Lisbon it's a popular salad with chickpeas and onions - Bacalhau is always so close to the soul of Portugal. Salted cod can be found everywhere in Portugal, but Restaurante Laurentina o Rei do Bacalhau in Lisbon may be the best.

Dried cod and salted cod are the most popular fish dishes in Portugal, a country that consumes the most cod in the world.

6. Say Queijo

Queijo means "cheese" in Portuguese. It’s anyone’s guess why Portugal’s cheeses aren’t as well-known. Really, amarelo da Beira Baixa, a blend of goat and sheep milk, has been rated for several years in tastings organized by Wine Spectator and Vanity Fair. Best in the world. There are also the sheep cheese Serra da Estrela from the high mountains of Portugal, the hard and spicy cow cheese produced on the steep slopes of the central Atlantic Ocean on the island of S?o Jorge, and the peppery Terrincho cheese produced in the remote back mountains of the northeast. Be known. These cheeses can be served as appetizers, or with red wine or port wine, a specialty of Portugal, and sometimes with marmalade.

Queijo Serra da Estrela is recognized as the finest traditional Portuguese cheese.

7. Porto's three delicious dishes

In the 15th century, Prince Henry led his troops to Morocco. The patriotic Porto donated all the meat in his city, leaving only the offal. They stew the offal together in a dish more palatable to Chinese people: butter beans, beef trotters, pig ears, peppery sausage and chewy tripe. Porto's most famous dishes are fried octopus and giant meatloaf sandwiches with spicy sauce called francesinhas, which means little French girls. What do they think?

Porto

Porto three spells. It may not be what it sounds like, but it is a combination of several foods, white beans, veal trotters, pig ears and peppered spicy sausage.

8. Cereals and rice

The Portuguese eat the most rice in Europe, more than the Spanish and Italians. Spanish paella and Italian risotto are everywhere in the world, but Portuguese rice arroz has been ignored. Portuguese paella Arrozde marisco is very gorgeous: plump rice mixed with coriander, garlic-flavored tomato sauce, plus a large plate of seafood - lobster, crab, clams and shrimp. There are also different ways to make this dish, other classics include arroz de pato that is put in the oven with duck meat; arrozde cabidela with lots of chicken blood; and arrozdoce with cinnamon as a dessert.

As the most rice-consuming country in Europe, Portuguese paella has been unfairly overlooked.

9. Wild Boar

As a by-product of a thriving cork industry, Portugal has some of the world’s juiciest pork, and some of the most delicious ham. The semi-wild pigs raised in oak forests in the southern Alentejo region have very little fat content, and the meat is as marble-like and full of flavor. Smoked hams made from this meat, especially from the border town of Barrancos, compete with the best hams in Spain and Italy. The most unique dish of Alentejo is the pork and clams marinated in garlic and red pepper marinade.

Porco, they turn some of the juiciest pork in the world into the best-tasting ham.

10. Old School

Almost every province has at least one old school restaurant that cooks special dishes with a long history in the region. For example, the sour star shark soup in Alcacer do Sal town in Porto; the stuffed squid in Vilado Bispo town in Correa; the stewed eel in OTelheiro town in Aveiro... Portugal has many informal restaurants, tascas are taverns, and It provides a hearty lunch; cervejarias is a place for seafood and cold beer; pastelarias is a pastry shop in name but also sells lunch.

Old School Restaurants

Almost every province has at least one old school restaurant that cooks traditional local cuisine with a long history. The Solar Bragancano offers seasonal grouse, pheasant and wild boar, making a trip to Braganca in northeastern Portugal even more worthwhile.

11. Lots and lots of wine

Whether you like dry red, dry white or more fruity wine, you can find it in Portugal. Portugal is such a small country but produces many types of wine. Summer wines come from the verdant northwest; rich reds and fruity whites from the Douro, D?o and Atlenjo; sparkling wines from Bairada; sweet whites as sweet as honey from Setubal; There are legendary Ports and wines from Madeira.

From the freshest seafood to golden olive oil, Portuguese cuisine is the most underrated cuisine in Europe. And there's good wine to go with the meal.

12. The legacy of the empire

Lisbon has been a melting pot of gourmet food since the Age of Discovery in the 15th century. Portuguese traders brought chili peppers from India and tempura from Japan. This influence is also two-way. South Africa's spicy piri-piri grilled chicken originated from Portugal. Lisbon is also full of exotic restaurants, selling cachupa from Cape Verde; muamba from Angola; black bean meal and seafood, a signature dish from Brazil; spiced lamb from Goa; and coconut shrimp curry from Mozambique.

13. Suckling pig

Mealhada is simply a city built for suckling pigs. Restaurants line the main streets, selling roasted suckling pig every day. In Bailada, the suckling pig is brushed with garlic and black pepper sauce and slowly roasted so that the skin is crispy and the meat is tender. Served with fried potatoes, oranges and local sparkling wine, although purists will prefer a local red wine.

In the Bairada district, the perfect pairing would be slow-cooked pink baby pork with crispy skin.

14. Fruit Festival

Bananas from Madeira; pineapples from the Azores; cherries from Serra da Gardunha; oranges from the Algarve , apricots and figs; melons from the Tagus; pears from the western coast; the pale yellow apples of Esmolfe; the striped red apples of Palmela; the plums of Elvas; the lute announces the coming of spring; and from the different islands Juicy peaches and passion fruit. Portugal's sunny climate gives Portugal many naturally ripe fruits that may be blemished but are absolutely delicious.

God has given Portugal plenty of sunshine, and the fruits here ripen naturally. Although there are some flaws and strange shapes, they are absolutely delicious.

15. Sardines

In mid-June, Lisbon’s neighborhoods begin their summer grilled sardine parties with singing, dancing, and hearty drinking. To commemorate the saint's Feast Day in San Antonio, street parties take place across the city, and sardines play an important role. This affordable, fresh little blue fish is one of summer's heartiest treats, often paired with boiled potatoes and roasted red peppers. However, tourists need to note that Lisbon only eats fresh sardines from May to October, and canned sardines in other seasons.

During the sardine season from May to October, grilled sardines will appear at many Portuguese events. Out of season, they make the best canning specimens.

16. Weird Food

Some Portuguese food may seem strange to outsiders. A kind of eel that feeds on blood, this eel has existed since the age of the dinosaurs and is a seasonal delicacy in Grape. The peeled gooseneck barnacles have a delicious, bug-like interior. Cod tongue, pig head and fried chicken gizzards are all popular, and the sweet blood sausage is served as dessert - this should be no pressure for Chinese people!

Continental Europe’s westernmost country has its own unusual foods, such as sugar-sweetened blood sausage.

17. The magic of the market

All grape towns have markets, selling fresh fish, fruits and vegetables from local farms, and some selected offal every day. The waterside market in the town of Olhao in the Algarve has been around since 1912. The seafood here is famous throughout the country. In Funchal, the capital of Madeira Island, local flower sellers dressed in national costumes stood among a kaleidoscope of flowers. Porto's 19th-century Mercadodo Bolhao market is a beloved landmark, and Lisbon's Mercado da Ribeira market, along with its food hall, is the second most visited place in the city. Be aware, however, that there is no fish in these markets on Mondays.

With fresh fish, colorful fruits and selections of offal every day, the market has become a hotspot for food-loving tourists in Portugal.

18. Egg tarts and their competitors

This does not mean that egg tarts are out of fashion. Sprinkled with cinnamon, the egg tarts invented by monks in Lisbon's Belem district are still delicious, but the Portuguese have also gone the extra mile with their pastries. It’s time to embrace Madeira’s treacle cakes; Algarve fig, apricot and carob pastries – there’s a pastry shop on almost every street in Portugal.

The egg tart was invented by monks in Lisbon and is now the most representative pastry in Portugal.

Egg tarts also have more and more rivals in Portugal.

19. Pork Chop Buns and Steak Buns

To make a pork chop bifana, soak the thin pork slices in white wine and garlic, then fry them and sandwich them between two In the middle of the slice of bread, add some mustard or chili sauce. The procedure for making steak prego is similar, except that the main ingredient is steak. These are two of the most popular snacks in Portugal. When it's done well, it has to be high-quality meat. The fluffy white bread soaks up the meat juices, and it tastes unbeatable. Pair it with some cold beer.

The crispy and juicy Portuguese pork sandwich Bifana, and the grilled steak sandwich Prego, are the most popular snacks in Portugal.

20. Sheep and other animals

Although there are good seafood, meat cannot be ignored. In addition to the unparalleled pork, the lamb raised in the Alentejo region and in the mountains of the north is also excellent. Roast lamb is also a delicious dish at holiday feasts. One of Coimbra’s specialty dishes is lamb braised in red wine. Beef, venison and hare are also famous dishes on the Portuguese table.