Food in Portugal

Portuguese food is rich, filling and full-flavoured and its dishes are a prime example of the Mediterranean diet. They use a wide variety of spices including piri piri (a small, fiery chilli pepper), cinnamon, vanilla and saffron. Olive oil is one of the bases for cooking and flavouring meals. Garlic is widely used along with herbs such as coriander and parsley.

Portugal is a nation that loves fish and seafood, they serve fish boiled, fried or roasted. The most eaten fish in Portugal is salted cod known as bacalhau. Also popular are sardines (especially when grilled), octopus, squid, crabs, shrimp, lobster, hake, horse mackeral, sea bass and a variety of shellfish.

A common Portuguese dish, mainly eaten in winter, is the cozido à portuguesa , which is similar to the French pot au feu, the Spanish cocido, the New England boiled dinner or the Costa Rican casado . Its composition depends on the cook's imagination and budget. A really lavish cozido may take beef, pork, pork sausage, blood sausage, salt pork, pig's feet, hard ham, potatoes, carrots, turnips, chickpeas, cabbage and rice. This would be originally a favorite food of the affluent farmer, which later reached the tables of the urban bourgeoisie and typical restaurants.

There is a wide variety of Portuguese cheeses, especially made from goat's or sheep's milk, or both together. Usually these are very strong-flavoured and fragrant. In the Azores , there is a type of cheese made with cow milk with a spicy taste ( its called Queijo de São Jorge ). Traditional Portuguese cuisine does not include cheese in its recipes, so it's eaten by itself before or after the main dishes.

Vegetables that are popular in Portuguese cookery include tomatoes , cabbage , and onions . There are many starchy dishes, such as feijoada, a rich bean stew, and açorda, a thick bread-based casserole generally flavoured with garlic and coriander or seafood. Many dishes are served with salad usually made of tomato, lettuce , and onion flavoured with olive oil and vinegar . Potatoes are also extremely common in Portuguese cuisine.. Soups made from a variety of vegetables are commonly available, one of the most popular being caldo verde, made from potato, thinly chopped collard greens and slices of chouriço (a spicy sausage)

Wine (red, white and green) is the traditional Portuguese drink, Rosé being one of the most popular among foreigners but not very appreciated by Portuguese themselves. Vinho Verde, or green wine, is a specific kind of wine, which can be red, white or rosé, and is only produced in the northwest. The term "Green wine" does not refer to the colour of the drink but to the fact that this wine needs to be drunk "young". A Green wine should be consumed as a new wine while a "maduro" wine usually can be consumed mature. Green wines are only produced in the north of the country and are usually slightly sparkling. Portuguese wine is of high quality and in last years has been considered by specialists among the best in the world.