12 Portuguese Dishes You Should Try at Least Once

Portuguese cooking is built on bread, olive oil, pork, fish and time. It is rarely delicate and almost never rushed. Twelve dishes to look for.

## The twelve 1. Bacalhau a Bras. Salt cod, onion, thin potato straws and egg. The friendliest introduction to Portuguese cod. 2. Bacalhau com natas. The richer version, baked with cream. There are said to be hundreds of cod recipes in the country. 3. Grilled sardines. A summer dish, at its best in June around the popular saints festivals. 4. Caldo verde. Kale and potato soup with a slice of smoked sausage. Simple and everywhere. 5. Arroz de marisco. Soupy seafood rice, made for sharing, common along the coast. 6. Cataplana. Fish or seafood stew cooked in a copper clam-shaped pan, an Algarve speciality. 7. Leitao da Bairrada. Roast suckling pig with crackling, from the region between Coimbra and Aveiro. 8. Alentejo pork with clams, an unlikely combination that works. 9. Francesinha. The Porto sandwich, with cheese and beer sauce. Order one between two. 10. Bifana. A pork sandwich, cheap and excellent, eaten standing up. 11. Polvo a lagareiro. Octopus roasted with olive oil, garlic and potatoes. 12. Queijo da Serra da Estrela. Sheep cheese so soft in winter that you cut the top and spoon it out.

## Ordering notes The bread, olives and cheese placed on your table when you sit down are not free. They are the couvert, and you can decline them.

Lunch runs from about half past twelve to three, dinner rarely starts before eight. Portions are generous, and sharing a starter is normal.

## Where the good meals are Away from the main squares, usually. The rule of thumb that works everywhere in Portugal is to look for a full dining room at half past one in the afternoon.

On our private days the driver and guide recommends places based on where the day actually ends up, rather than a fixed reservation that forces the schedule. Meals are not included in the tour price, so you order what you like.