Food in Portugal

Find out about traditional Portuguese cuisine and the typical Portuguese meals and dishes to be found throughout the country: including the famous salted cod dish, bacalhau, as well as sardinas assadas, caldo verde and more.

Portuguese dishes are often made from simple ingredients, based on regional produce with an emphasis on fish dishes. The former colonies in Africa, India and the Far East have influenced Portuguese cuisine making it very different from the nearby Mediterranean countries. Many herbs and spices such as pepper, saffron, ginger and coriander were introduced into Europe by the Portuguese, as were coffee, pineapples, potatoes and rice amongst other ingredients.

Portuguese recipes are characterised by their use of a wide variety of spices, for example, piri piri, a spicy chilli pepper, vanilla, cinnamon and saffron. Southern Portugal has Arab and Moorish influences and an old tradition of almond and fig sweets.

Breakfast

Breakfast (Pequeno almoço) consists mainly of milk, coffee, bread rolls or toast, butter and jam.

Fish

Many of Portugal's dishes are fish-based due to its situation on the Atlantic. The most famous fish dish is probably the salted cod dish called bacalhau, which it is said can be cooked in 365 different ways. Each region has their own bacalhau speciality, for example bacalhau à Gomes de Sã from Porto (salted cod, potatoes and onions topped with eggs and onions) or bacalhau à bras from Estremadura (salt cod, potato, onion and scrambled eggs). Other popular fish include sardines, especially grilled (sardinhas assadas), sea bass, octopus, squid (often stuffed), anchovy and swordfish. Shellfish such as mussels, prawns, oysters, lobsters, crabs and clams are also very popular.

Meat

One of the most popular meats in Portugal is pork, which can be cooked in a variety of ways. Roast suckling pig (leitão assado) is a speciality of Central Portugal. Another popular pork dish is the carne de porco à Alentajana, which consists of pork marinated in wine and garnished with clams.

A common meat dish is the cozido à Portuguesa, a sort of hotpot of beef, sausages, potatoes, vegetables and rice. Grilled skewers of beef with garlic (espetada) are often served, as is aromatic broiled chicken (frango grelhado), seasoned with piri piri, garlic and olive oil. Feijoada, a meat stew with kidney or butter beans, is a dish popular throughout Portugal.

Soups

Soup is served at most meals. Seasonal vegetables, fish and meat are used to make a variety of soups. One of the most famous Portuguese soups from Minho is the caldo verde, which consists of a mashed potato base, green Galician cabbage, olive oil and black pudding (tora) or slices of sausage, such as chouriço and salpicão. Bread soups (açordas) where shellfish and vegetables are added to thick slices of bread are found in all regions.

In the south, gaspacho, a soup of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, garlic, chillies and vinegar, is popular. Caldeirada is a fish soup made of water, tomatoes, onions and garlic and other ingredients that traditionally will depend on the fisherman's catch.

Cheeses

Portuguese recipes do not include cheese (queijo) so it is eaten by itself either before or after main dishes. The wide variety of Portuguese cheeses is often made from goat's or sheep's milk. The most famous cheese in Portugal is most probably the Queijo da Serra, made from ewe's milk in the Serra da Estrela. This cheese is made in the winter and traditionally the milk is coagulated with thistle (flor do cardo). Monte, a cheese from Trás-os-Montes in northern Portugal, is a smooth, creamy cheese made from cow's and ewe's milk.

Desserts

Many of the desserts in Portugal are rich egg-based specialities, often seasoned with spices such as cinnamon and vanilla. A popular dessert is the arroz doce, a rice pudding flavoured with cinnamon and lemon. The Portuguese have a variety of cake and confectionary specialities that can be found in a pasteleria or confeitaria. Northern specialities are rich, very sugary and often flavoured with cinnamon, whereas in the south the sweetmeats reflect the local harvest of figs and almonds.

Throughout Portugal variations of the pão de Ló can found, a rich sponge cake that can be flavoured with lemon, Madeira, port wine, cinnamon or orange juice.