Food & Drink

Portuguese cuisine is characterised by rich, filling and full-flavoured dishes and is a prime example of Mediterranean diet. Seafood features strongly. The influence of Portugal's former colonial possessions is clear, especially in the wide variety of spices used. These include piri piri (small, fiery chilli peppers), as well as cinnamon, vanilla and saffron. There are also Arab and Moorish influences, especially in the south of the country. Olive oil is one of the bases of Portuguese cuisine both for cooking and flavouring meals. Garlic is widely used, as are herbs such as coriander and parsley. Many soups are main dishes, including sopa de marisco (shellfish soup cooked and served with wine) and caldo verde (green soup with kale leaves). Other specialities are caldeirada, a stew with several types of fish, and carne de porco á Alentejana: pork covered with clam and tomato sauce.

Breakfast

Portuguese breakfast is light and often consists of fresh bread, butter and cheese or fruit preserves accompanied with strong coffee. Sweet pastries are also very popular.

Fish and Seafood

Portugal is a seafaring nation at heart, and this is reflected in the amount of fish and seafood eaten. Fish is served grilled, boiled (in these cases it is always flavoured with olive oil), fried or even roasted. Foremost amongst these is bacalhau (salted cod), which is the most consumed type of fish in Portugal. It is said that there are more than 365 ways to cook it, one for every day of the year. Cod is almost always used dried and salted because the Portuguese fishing tradition in the North Atlantic developed before the invention of refrigeration. Also popular are sardines, especially when grilled as sardinhas assadas, octopus, squid, crabs, shrimp, lobster, hake, horse mackerel (scad), lamprey, sea bass, scabbard (especially in the islands) and a variety of shellfish. Caldeirada is a stew consisting of a variety of fish and shellfish with potatoes, tomato and onion.

Meat and Poultry

The Portuguese steak, bife, is a thin slice of fried beef or pork served with fried potatoes and fried rice, or salad. Sometime a fried egg may be placed sunny side up on top of the meat, in which case the dish acquires a new name, bife com um ovo a cavalo (steak with an egg on horseback). Small beef or pork steaks in a roll (respectively pregos or bifanas) are popular snacks, often served at beer halls with a large mug of beer. In modern days, however, when time and economy demand their toll, a prego or bifana, eaten at a snack bar counter, may constitute the lunch of a white collar worker. Espetada, a sort of shishkabob, is very popular in Madeira.

Vegetables

Vegetables that are popular in Portuguese cookery include tomatoes, cabbage and onions. There are many starchy dishes, such as feijoada, a rich bean stew, and açorda, a thick bread-based casserole generally flavoured with garlic and coriander or seafood. Many dishes are served with salad usually made of tomato, lettuce and onion flavoured with olive oil and vinegar. Potatoes are also extremely common in Portuguese cuisine, and rice is also used extensively. Soups made from a variety of vegetables are commonly available, one of the most popular being caldo verde, made from potato, thinly chopped collard greens and slices of chouriço.

Cheese

Traditional Portuguese cuisine does not include cheese in its recipes, so it's eaten by itself before or after the main dishes. There is a wide variety of Portuguese cheeses, especially made from goat's or sheep's milk, or both together. Usually these are very strong-flavoured and fragrant. In the Azores, there is a type of cheese made with cow milk with a spicy taste (Queijo de Sao Jorge). Other well known cheeses like Queijo de Azeitao, Queijo de Castelo Branco and Queijo da Serra da Estrela (D.O.P.) which is very strong in flavour, can be eaten soft or more matured. Serra da Estrela is handmade from fresh sheep milk and thistle-derived rennet.

Desserts

The Portuguese enjoy rich egg-based desserts. These are often seasoned with spices such as cinnamon and vanilla. Perhaps most popular is leite-creme (a set egg custard). Also popular is arroz doce (a typical and popular rice pudding), although aletria (a similar dish this time based upon a kind of vermicelli), is common. These are often decorated with elaborate stencilled patterns of cinnamon powder. Other custards include pudim flan. Cakes and pastries are also very popular. Most towns have a local speciality, usually egg or cream based pastry. Originally from Lisbon, but popular nationwide, as well as among the diaspora, are pastéis de nata. These are small, extremely rich custard tarts. In the south, especially in the Algarve region, many recipes include almonds and marzipan.

Drinks

Wine (red, white and green) is the traditional Portuguese drink, Rosé being one of the most popular among foreigners but not very appreciated by Portuguese themselves. Vinho Verde, or green wine, is a specific kind of wine, which can be red, white or rosé, and is only produced in the northwest (Minho province). The term "Green wine" does not refer to the colour of the drink but to the fact that this wine needs to be drunk "young". A Green wine should be consumed as a new wine while a "maduro" wine usually can be consumed mature. Green wines are usually slightly sparkling.

Port wine is a fortified wine of distinct flavour produced in Douro normally served with desserts. Vinho da Madeira, is a regional wine produced in Madeira similar to sherry. From the distillation of grape wastes from wine production is made a variety of brandies (called aguardente, literally "fire water") which are very strong tasting. Typical liqueurs such as Licor Beirao and Ginjinha are very popular alcoholic drinks in Portugal.