Portugal’s’ northern food is rich and varied as the region itself. Tripe is one of Porto’s specialties, in fact they eat so much of it that the inhabitants of Northern Portugal are nicknamed ‘tripeiros’! Typically is tripe cooked with Douro red wine, beans, sausage, garlic and black pepper.
Other local specialities include Caldo Verde – a cabbage and spicy sausage soup, Bacalhau - dried salt cod fish, Feijoada à transmontana which is a wholesome bean stew, papos-de-anjo, barrigas-de-freiras which are all sweetmeats and of course Porto port. The adventurous should also try the rustic Francesinha - a meat feast sandwich of sausage, pork and beef drowning in a spicy beer and whisky gravy!
Try the bean based ‘orelheira com feijão’, or ‘arroz de cabrito’ a goat and rice dish or the excellent game stock and rice ‘arroz de cabidela’, accompanied by some delicious smoked sausage.
And for dessert if you have any room left, opt for toasted ‘creme queimado’ which is a kind of rice pudding. Around the Christmas season, the region is also filled with the smell of fried cinnamon ‘Rabanada’ fritters – utterly scrumptious.
For the vinophiles amongst you, wines produced in the Douro valley are rich and very full bodied, and the locals usually combine it with rich meat recipes like duck and chicken served with rice. They also team their heavy reds with ‘sarrabulho’, a mixture of meats, vegetables and spices cooked in wine itself.
Portuguese cheese, photo Paulo Magalhães
Real food lovers should head to Porto’s Bolhao Market. Here you will find a bright and vibrant open-air market full of fresh produce like olives, cheese and freshly baked bread. It is a great way to start the day, soaking up the atmosphere and picking up some much needed food for a long day of sightseeing.
ATOP members: Destination Portugal, Keytel International
