Portugal鈥檚 cuisine has been shaped by many factors, from its fertile, sun-baked olive groves and vineyards to its centuries-old love affair with the sea.
Every region has its own unique specialties, which you can find in the mix of old-fashioned tascas (taverns) and more cutting-edge restaurantes helmed by experimental young chefs making waves across the country.
Wherever you go, don鈥檛 neglect the simple foods that the Portuguese have refined over the years: freshly baked bread, olives and olive oil, and cheese. They can accompany your lunch or dinner, or you can make a meal of them along with charcuterie and other delicacies best sourced from a local market.
Here are the foods and drinks you shouldn鈥檛 miss in Portugal.
1. Salted cod is part of many Portuguese dishes
Portugal鈥檚 most famous food is bacalhau (salted cod), which can be served in a seemingly limitless array of dishes. The Portuguese say there are 365 different bacalhau dishes, one for every day of the year. Transforming the fresh white-fleshed fish into bacalhau involves salting, drying and curing, which allows it to last for many months.
Given its longevity, the fish was a staple on long sea voyages undertaken by Portuguese explorers. Among the dishes you shouldn鈥檛 miss are bacalhau 脿 bras (shredded cod with fried potatoes and eggs) and our favorite bacalhau com natas (cod baked with potatoes, cream and cheese).
Where to try it: You don鈥檛 have to go to a fancy restaurant to find an excellent bacalhau dish. A homespun tavern like Z茅 da Mouraria serves some of Lisbon鈥檚 best traditional fare, including an excellent bacalhau with chickpeas.
Read more: Local Bites: the best places to eat and drink in Lisbon
2. Don鈥檛 miss the world鈥檚 best custard tart in Lisbon
One of the great culinary wonders of Portugal, the cinnamon-dusted pastel de nata (custard tart), with its flaky crust and creamy center, lurks irresistibly behind pastry counters across the country.
The recipe was born in Bel茅m鈥檚 Jer贸nimos Monastery over 300 years ago. Back then, monks of the Order of St Jerome (aka Hieronymites) used egg whites to starch their monastic robes and thus had many egg yolks left over. Rather than throw them out, some unknown monk found a delicious way to use them.
Where to try it: Going strong since the 1830s,听Antiga Confeitaria de Bel茅m serves astonishingly perfect, piping-hot custard tarts. It鈥檚 handily located just up the road from the UNESCO-listed monastery that created the original recipe.
3. Feast on fresh-off-the-boat seafood on Portugal鈥檚 coast
Always a seafaring people, the Portuguese know a thing or two about cooking fish. Taste the culinary riches of Portugal鈥檚 coast in dishes such as caldeirada de peixe (fish stew layered with tomatoes, potatoes and rice), a莽orda de camar茫o (a tasty stew of shrimp, garlic and coriander thickened with breadcrumbs), 虫别谤茅尘 (corn mash made with cockles) or cataplana (shellfish stewed with wine, garlic and tomatoes in a traditional domed copper pan).
Where to try it: You鈥檒l find some outstanding places for a seafood meal along the coast. Mar 脿 Vista serves up a veritable Neptune鈥檚 feast to a backdrop of sea views from its location in Ericeira. In the south, O Paulo has equally impressive ocean vistas and some of the best seafood dishes in the Algarve.
4. Taste traditional tripe stew in Porto
Residents of Porto are known as tripeiros, a nickname that means 鈥渢ripe eaters.鈥 What might sound like an insult is actually nothing of the sort 鈥 something that will become immediately apparent when feasting on a savory bowl of tripe stew.
Although you can find the dish in other parts of Portugal, Porto specializes in this delicacy, where it is typically called simply tripas 脿 moda do Porto. It features tripe (cow stomach) with white beans, smoked ham, sausage, carrots, onions and other filling ingredients.听
Where to try it: In central Porto, has been serving top-notch tripe stew since 1939. If you prefer it as an appetizer, head to , which serves tripe and many other traditional Portuguese dishes as small plates.
5. Sip port after an atmospheric tour through a wine cellar
While you can taste tawnies, rubies and late-bottled vintages at bars all over Porto, you鈥檒l get far more out of a cellar tour and tasting. Slip over to the other side of the river to Vila Nova de Gaia鈥檚 lodges for a spin of barrel-lined cellars steeped in history that hails back to the 17th-century British merchants who developed quite a taste for sweet fortified wine.
Where to try it: At Taylor鈥檚, you can stroll through 300-year-old cellars followed by a tasting in a lovely manicured garden. For more insight into the history of wine and opportunities to order high-quality flights, visit the .
6. Indulge in hearty pork dishes and rustic delicacies in the Alentejo听
Many Portuguese consider the Alentejo home to some of the best dishes of the hinterlands. Instead of grilled sardines and platters of seafood, you鈥檒l find meaty ingredients like porco preto, a high-quality 鈥渂lack pork鈥 made from pigs that graze on acorns. Rustic ingredients are transformed into delicacies in classic dishes like a莽orda 脿 alentejana, a soup made of bread, garlic, olive oil, cilantro and a poached egg.
Where to try it:听Taberna T铆pica Quarta Feira serves tender black pork and all the sides inside a convivial dining room in 脡惫辞谤补.
7. A francesinha sandwich is northern Portugal鈥檚 best comfort food
Porto鈥檚 favorite hangover snack,听francesinha (which translates to 鈥渓ittle Frenchie鈥), is a thick open-faced sandwich of wet-cured ham, spicy 濒颈苍驳耻颈莽补 sausage and steak atop thick bread slices covered with melted cheese, an egg, a hot tomato and beer sauce.
Where to try it: The diner-like 听in Porto has been serving this rich calorie bomb since its opening in 1959.
There aren鈥檛 many vegetarian or vegan dishes
Portugal is a tough place to follow a plant-based diet. Meat and seafood feature heavily on most traditional menus, and even seemingly innocuous dishes can sometimes contain animal products. Caldo verde, for instance, is a soup made with potato and kale, but it often has a base of chicken broth and may also contain sausage.
Your best bet is to seek out dedicated vegetarian and vegan restaurants, which you can find in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve. A few earth-friendly restaurants worth seeking out are in Lisbon, which serves imaginative, beautifully prepared dishes in an elegant setting, and , where you can tuck into vegan versions of Portuguese classics like the francesinha.
Join the celebrations of flavor at Portugal鈥檚 6 best food and wine festivals
- Dates vary for , a听wine festival in Lisbon, Madeira and Porto.
- Chocolate lovers descend on the pretty medieval town of 脱产颈诲辞蝉听for the听, held in late March or early April.
- Santos Populares is Lisbon鈥檚 lively street party held each year in the first two weeks of June. This is your chance to feast on chargrilled sardines and mackerel.
- 惭辞苍莽茫辞 in the Minho pays tribute to Alvarinho white wine during听听in late June or early July.
- 础耻驳耻蝉迟鈥檚 听pairs seafood with live music acts in 翱濒丑茫辞.
- Taste roasted chestnuts and sample wine at , held the second weekend of November inside Marv茫o鈥檚 medieval walls.
