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All coffee shops or snack bars serve coffee and tea as well as pastries, cakes and sandwiches.
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PASTRIES and cakes are popular all over the country with some pastelarias (pastry shops) proudly advertising that they bake their own (fabrico próprio). The Moors and later the Christian convents and monasteries have been the source of many recipes. Marzipan cakes filled with egg yolk are similar to sweets served in North Africa and the Arab world. From the convents come the barriga de freira (literal translation: nun's tummy) a sweet made with bread, egg yolk and sugar, and the toucinho do céu (literal translation: bacon from heaven) a cake made with ground almonds, sugar, flour and eggs. The popular pastel de nata (custard tart) is found in any pastry shop or café. The most famous and best is produced at the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém, in Lisbon. Nearly any region seems to have its own pastry or cake. Sintra is famous for its queijadas de Sintra (cheese tarts), and the travesseiros - rolled pastry filled with egg syrup and dusted with sugar. Mafra produces the fradinho (literal translation: small monk) ground white beans, sugary egg yolk in a pastry case. Cascais produces areias de Cascais (sands of Cascais) shortbread biscuits and the nozes de Cascais (half walnuts covered in caramel). |
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Portugal produces very good wines with a range of prices. There are reds, whites and young wines (vinho verde) produced in nearly every region, from the Algarve in the South to the Douro in the North. Porto of course is widely known for producing great port wines, both red and white. Some of the Portuguese liqueurs produced here are the Triple Sec which tastes of orange, Amendoa Amarga with an almond flavour, Brandy Mel a mixture of brandy and honey and Moscatel from Setúbal a sweet type of sherry. You can ask for a glass in local bars. Supermarkets sell a wide range of wines. House wine that restaurants serve is usually good quality at reasonable prices. | |
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COFFEE drinking in Portugal is a serious affair. Meeting friends in a café for a "bica" and a chat or taking a quick break from the office is a way of life. Coffee or café is the basic beverage - in Lisbon it is called the bica, a strong coffee served in a small cup and often the fainthearted accompany it with a glass of water. A double is a café-duplo. A bica cheia is a coffee filled to the top of the small cup. An italiana is made with the same amount of coffee as a regular one but with half as much water. A carioca is a normal café topped up with hot water. A garoto is a café topped up with milk. A bica com uma pinga is a coffee with a drop or two of brandy. A descafeinado, served in most restaurants and cafés is instant decaffeinated coffee in a small cup. Café com leite is a coffee with milk. The galão is a tall glass of hot milk with a little coffee added to it. The stronger version of the galão is either bem escuro (dark) or a galão de máquina - a regular coffee made on the spot and tastes stronger. A meia de leite de máquina is a coffee with milk half-filled with fresh strong coffee and half with hot milk. Tea is Chá. Chá com limão is black tea served with a slice of lemon, not to be confused with the chá de limão - also known as a carioca de limão - hot water with lemon rind - a refreshing drink. |
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Portuguese cheese is produced by traditional methods in various regions of the country. The most famous is the Serra, made in the north of the country Serra da Estrela, using only ewe's milk. It can be creamy or seasoned and it is much sought after. Fresh goat's cheese 'queijo fresco' is a type of cottage cheese and served often in restaurants as a starter. It is best with salt and pepper. It is produced in Lisbon and surrounding areas, mainly Loures. Azeitão, near Setúbal, produces a cheese with a thin yellowish cover using ewe's milk and has a slight acid taste. The São Jorge or Ilha as it is also known comes from the Azores, the Island of S. Jorge. Using cow's milk it is the nearest to English cheddar. Serpa, a strong and sharp tasting cheese comes from the Alentejo. Évora produces a cheese from ewe's milk or mixed with goat milk and tastes rough with a slight spicy taste. Varieties of cheeses are sold in the delicatessen sections of larger supermarkets. |
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Lisbon has several bars specialising in ginginha - morello cherry brandy - bars. Ginginha from a bottle is available in most bars in Portugal, but only round Rossio are several bars serving draught ginginha from the decanter. Traditionally, ginginha should be drunk in a single gulp, like shooters in American bars. However, the drink's peculiar flavour is best appreciated with modest sips: it is said to be good for the chest and digestion. Ginginha is a pungent liquor, sweet but not sugary, with a slow burning fuse that's only beginning when it warms the belly. It is made by steeping the bitter morello cherries in a mixture of aguardente (colourless brandy) and sugar. The resulting deep red liquor varies from 23% to 25% proof alcohol. The bars specialising in ginginha serve it 'com' (with) or 'sem' (without) the morello cherries. They have a surprising but not unpleasant bitter taste that kills some of the sweetness of the drink in the mouth. The most famous bar selling ginginha is A Ginginha, in the Largo de São Domingos, to the right of the theatre Dona Maria II. It is said to have opened in 1840, though the painted panels extolling the virtues of the drink are much more recent, probably dating from the 1920s or 1930s. Twenty yards along the Rua de Barros Queiros, to the left of the bar and on the right side of the street, stands Ginginha - Rubi. Another bar selling the same company's brand is Ginjinha Sem Rival, about 20 yards from A Ginjinha, on the left side up the pedestrian-only Rua das Portas de Santo Antão. The bar is no wider than its doorway. Further up the road at number 61 is the Ginjinha Popular. Another ginjinha bar, Rubi - A Melhor Ginja (Rubi the best morello cherry) is on the right side at the bottom of the Elevador de Gloria, in the Avenida da Liberdade, near the Tourist Office. The Ginginha de Cascais is in the Rua da Palmeira, off the Av. Valbom. - By S English. |
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Chouriços are smoked sausages with various fillings and seasonings. A part of Portuguese cuisine they are normally included in traditional main dishes such as cozido, feijoada or the caldo verde soup. There are various types and one can even find a type of black pudding. Presunto (cured ham) is served with melon as a starter or on its own. Chouriços are sold in supermarkets. | |
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