A TASTE OF PORTUGAL
Portuguese food is distinctive and varied, featuring many regional specialities that have evolved from local traditions and ingredients.
Much of Portuguese cooking is spice based, thanks largely to Vasco da Gama and the other navigators of his time. He and his seafaring countrymen traversed the globe collecting pepper, cloves, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, and a range of savoury foods which serve as the base of many dishes today.
A typical meal in Portugal starts with a selection of appetizers such as goat of sheep's cheese, pâté, olives, cornbread and delicious smoked ham called presunto.
Soup (sopa) is a regular feature on the restaurant menus, normally made on the premises with fresh ingredients bought at the local market. Vegetable soup (sopa de legumes) is very common and always a good choice, or the traditional caldo verde - a soup made with potatoes, shredded cabbage and smoked sausage. Most seaside restaurants serve a delicious fish soup (sopa de peixe), made from fresh pieces left over from the main dishes.
Fish is a mainstay of Portuguese cuisine, particularly sardines (sardinhas) and the ever-present dried codfish known as bacalhau. Other popular fish dishes include hake (pescada), sole (linguado), salmon (salmão), trout (truta) and monkfish (tamboril). Some of Europe's tastiest seafood (marisco) can be found in restaurants up and down Portugal. Lobster (lagosta) is widely available, while crab (sapateira), clams (ameijoas), mussels (mexilhões) and prawns (gambas) are normally good value.
Portuguese meat is both tasty and safe to eat, particularly pork (porco) which for centuries has been an important livestock in the country's rural economy. The annual slaughter (a matança do porco) between December and Easter is still a major event in the winter calendar of most farms and villages. In the Bairrada region north of Coimbra, many restaurants specialise in roast sucking pig (leitão assado). Some parts of the pig in feijoada, a bean stew made with black pudding (morcela) and pork knuckle.