42
VIKING
Portugal, plate by plate - What to eat
AND WHERE TO EAT IT
Renowned food critics Jill Dupleix and Terry Durack take you on a culinary journey of
Portugal highlighting the unmissable dishes and where to try them.
From the smoky sensation of a grilled
sardine to your first bite of a cinnamon-
scented custard tart, eating your way
around Portugal is a magical mystery
tour for all the senses. And because
the charming historic cities of Lisbon
and Porto have kept faith with their
traditional foods, even a simple dish for
lunch tells its own story, like an edible
postcard.
Here we've chosen just five dishes that
evoke the history, the splendour and the
vitality of Portugal, and the energy and
appetite of its people. Obrigada (thank
you), Portugal, and mais, por favor (more,
please!).
THE FRANCESINHA
Take time out to find this magnificent
multi-layered sandwich in Porto, first
created in 1953 as the local answer to
France's croque-monsieur. e word
'hearty' was invented for its layers of
cured meats, cheese and linguica (smoked
Portuguese sausage), and a spicy tomato
and beer sauce. Take it at a traditional
tasca (family-run bar), or go for the
quality-and-comfort option at Brasao
Cervejaria Aliados, where it is cooked in
the wood-fired oven, topped with an egg
and oozing with cheese - a gastronomic
challenge, ready to conquer.
brasao.pt/pt/
GRILLED SARDINES
Since Roman times, the vast Atlantic
coastline of Portugal has been renowned
for its small, silvery, oily-fleshed sardines.
For the most atmospheric eating
experience in Lisbon, find a terrace
(pateo) restaurant with an outdoor grill
in the historic Alfama district, with its
maze of tiny narrow alleys and tiny fado
bars. Order sardinhas grelhadas (grilled
sardines), wreathed in seductive tendrils
of smoke, a cold beer and a colourful
Portuguese salad of grilled capsicum,
potato and tomato, for one of the best
barbecues of your life.
Pateo 13, Calçadinha de Santo Estevão,
13, Alfama.
