By: Maria Imari rodriguez

Portuguese Cuisine
 Has many Mediterranean influences
 Famous for seafood
 People who express love, faith and friendship through
their cooking.
 The use of quality ingredients prepared simply to
preserve their distinctive flavors. On the surface this
may sound plain, but it's not. Rich Mediterranean and
Moorish influences and the wide variety of available
ingredients have given the Portuguese cook the best
flavors and textures to work with, so there is very little
need for complex preparation.
Portuguese Chefs
 There are many chefs who creatively use the basic
ingredients and cooking method for traditional
Portuguese dishes and create original and delicious
food variations. Portuguese chefs are passionate about
their traditional dishes and they enjoy presenting
them to foreigners who have never tasted them before.
Whether they are cooking a simple traditional dish or
a sumptuous dinner, Portuguese chefs take pride in
what they do, and this is readily noticeable in the
unforgettable taste of their cooking.
 History
 One of the earliest and most long-lasting influences was
created by the invasion of the Moors in 711 AD. Although the
Moors were never able to take over the entire country, they had
a stronghold on the southern portions for hundreds of years.
The effect on the national cuisine was profound, and to this day
almonds, figs and egg-influenced desserts, traditional to the
Moors, are also an integral part of eating in Portugal.
 The biggest external influence on Portuguese cooking, however,
must be attributed to Portugal’s famous history as maritime
explorers and colonists. Beginning in the early 1400s, Prince
Henry the Navigator began to build ships that could withstand
long journeys. Driven to find a better route to trade with the
East, his ships headed south and began to explore the coast of
Africa. This initial exploration brought unknown items such as
coffee, peppers and peanuts home.
 History
 In 1487, the Portuguese became the first to round the Cape
of Good Hope and make their way to the Far East. This
began the robust trade of spices such as cinnamon and
curry and foods like rice and tea into Portugal’s boundaries
and, from there, all over the rest of Europe. The Portuguese
embraced these strong flavors with gusto and these
popular Portuguese cooking spices appear in higher
proportions in Portuguese cuisine than any other European
country.
 At the same time, the Portuguese also headed west and in
1500, the explorer discovered Brazil. Sailors brought home
pineapples, tomatoes, potatoes and corn. All are now an
inexorable part of Portugal’s flavors.
 Meals
 Breakfast (café da manhã) is often consists of fresh
bread, with butter, ham, cheese or jam, accompanied
with coffee, milk, tea or hot chocolate.
 Bread is not served with butter and should be placed
on the edge of the main plate, or next to it on the table.
 A small espresso coffee (sometimes called a bica after
the spout of the coffee machine) is a very popular
beverage had during breakfast, which is enjoyed at
home or at the many cafés that feature in towns and
cities throughout Portugal.
 Sweet pastries are also very popular, as well as
breakfast cereal, mixed with milk or yogurt and fruit.
 Meals
 Lunch (almoço ) often lasting over an hour, is served
between noon and 2 o'clock or between 1 and 3 o'clock.
 Supper ( ceia ) / Dinner ( jantar ) is generally served
late, around or after 8 o'clock.
 There are three main courses, with lunch and dinner
usually including a soup.
 Meals
 A common Portuguese soup is caldo verde, which is
made with potato, shredded kale, and chunks of
chouriço (a spicy Portuguese sausage).
 Fish recipes, like salted cod (bacalhau)
 The most typical desserts are arroz doce and caramel
custard.
 There is also a wide variety of cheeses
 Essential Ingredients
 Olive Oil—Portuguese cooking relies heavily on olive oil
 Peppers provide much of the spicy flavor and the rich
colors found in traditional Portuguese dishes. Common
ingredients range from chili peppers to Bell peppers to piri-
piri, a small and fiery pepper from Africa. Oftentimes,
Portuguese recipes use peppers in paste form.
 Paprika is a reason why many Portuguese dishes have a
distinctive red color. This spice, which is derived from bell
peppers, can be either hot or sweet and is sometimes
smoked for additional flavor.
 Onions and Garlic that’s why many Portuguese dishes are
highly aromatic
 Essential Ingredients
 Tomatoes—Portuguese cooking relies heavily on tomatoes
for color and flavor
 Wine is used to flavor many Portuguese meals
 Sausages like choirico, linguicia, and alheira are important
staples of many Portuguese dishes.
 Potatoes accompany dishes like sausages, fish, and steak.
 Rice is consumed more often in Portugal than in any other
country in Europe.
 Beans are commonly served with dishes like tripe, stews,
and mixed with sausage or other meats.
 Fish
 Most dishes are fish-based due to the country's situation
on the Atlantic.
 The most famous fish dish is salted cod, bacalhau, which it
is said cooked in 365 different ways.
 Each region has its own bacalhau speciality... Example:
 bacalhau à Gomes de Sã from Porto (salted cod, potatoes and
onions topped with eggs and onions)
 bacalhau à bras from Estremadura (salt cod, potato, onion
and scrambled eggs).
 Also sardines, like grilled (sardinhas assadas), sea bass,
octopus, squid (often stuffed), anchovies and swordfish.
 Shellfish such as mussels, prawns, oysters, lobsters, crabs
and clams are also very popular.
 Meat
 The most popular meat is pork
 Roast suckling pig (leitão assado) is a speciality of
Central Portugal.
 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 & rice.
 Grilled skewers of beef with garlic (espetada) are often
served, as is aromatic grilled 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
 Served at most meals
 Seasonal vegetables, fish and meat are used to make soups.
 One of the most famous is from Minho, 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.
 Gaspacho, a soup of tomatoes, cucumber, onions, garlic,
chillies and vinegar, is popular in the south
 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, so it is eaten
by itself either before or after main dishes.
 The majority of cheeses are made from goat's or
sheep's milk.
 The most famous cheese is the Queijo da Serra, made
from ewe's milk in the Serra da Estrela.
 Made in the winter and traditionally the milk is
coagulated with thistle (a widely distributed
herbaceous plant of the daisy family)
 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 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.
 They have a variety of cake and confectionary
specialities that can be found in a confectionery (shop
that sells candy and other sweets)
 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.
Wine Regions
 Portugal has two wine regions protected by UNESCO as
World Heritage:
 the Douro Valley wine region (Douro Vinhateiro)
 and the Pico Island wine region (Ilha do Pico Vinhateira).

 The Douro Valley has the oldest appellation system in the

world, created nearly two hundred years ago. Other wine-
making regions include the Alentejo and the Dão region.
Each region has its own wine commission (Comissão
Vitivinícola) supervising the quality of the wines.
 Wine Regions
 The Douro region is best known for its Port wine, but in this
region about half the wine now produced is for table wines. The
wine is produced in the Douro Valley and exported from the city
of Porto, thus the name Porto (or Port in English-speaking
countries). The production of Port is subject to very strict
regulations. It is classified according to the grape crops, sugar
content, the amount of alcohol added, age and type of wood of
the barrels that are used in the aging process.

More than 40 varieties of grapes are used for making Port, and
there are essentially two categories: red and wood-aged. The red
Ports develop after bottling and are deeper in colour, whereas
the wood-aged Ports, which include tawny ports, are ready for
consumption once bottled. White Port is in a category of its
own and may be sweet or not so sweet and can have a lower
alcohol content than the normal 20 percent for Port.
 Wine Regions
 The Minho region in northwest Portugal is famous for its Vinho
Verde, or green wine. These wines can be either red or white and
are produced from grapes that do not reach a high level of sugar.
Its short fermentation period gives the wine a low alcohol
content (eight to eleven percent). Known for their diuretic and
digestible properties, these wines are very light and naturally
gassy. Among the most well known brands are the Soalheiro,
Palácio da Brejoeira and Vinho Alvarinho.
 Dão wine is produced in a mountainous area in the north,
where the mountains protect the grapes (castas) from maritime
and continental influences. Both red and white wines are
produced here including fruity reds for younger drinking and
dry white wines. It is often said that the Dão region produces
some of the best wines in Portugal including the Grão Vasco
and the Aliança.
 Wine Regions
 Bairrada, in this region the Baga grape dominates, producing
wine that has a smoky or pine needle taste that needs time to
soften. The name Bairrada comes from Barros (clay) due to the
region's soil. Wines produced include red, white and table wine
but the most well known is its sparkling wine, the Conde de
Cantanhede and also the Marquês de Marialva.
 Setúbal. The Serra da Arrábida to the south of Lisbon is best
known for its sweet fortified Muscat wine, known as Moscatel
de Setúbal. The region also produces red table wine and the
most well known wine is the Moscatel Roxo, a wine that is only
sold after twenty years aging in a cellar.
 Alentejo. Probably the preferred wine of consumers in Portugal,
the Alentejo region in southern Portugal produces 12 percent of
the nation's wine. Wines produced include a slightly acidic red,
and fruity white wines. Wines from this region are widely
exported, notably to China.
 Wine Regions
 There are four major types of Madeira wine:
 Malvasia (also known as Malmsey)
 Bual (or Boal)
 Verdelho
 Sercial

Most Madeira is made from the Tinta Negra Mole grape,

which is often blended with one of these four noble varieties.
Madeira can be sold as a vintage wine with a specific age
when it is aged in casks for more than fifteen years or as a
blended wine with a minimum age of three or ten years.
Vintage Madeira from as far back as the 1850s is still available
for sale and the oldest surviving bottle of Madeira dates from
1722.