As the skies darken and winter beckons in Lisbon, it’s time for a good stew. A Portuguese home classic – jardineira. Jardineira means gardener. Sounds like a salad, but it isn’t. The name comes from the dish using whatever vegetables are in season in the garden at the time. Indisputably countryside. It’s not something you’ll…
Algarve-Style Tuna Steak (Bife de Tuna de Cebollada)
Tavira, in the eastern Algarve, is as a sort of tuna hotspot of Portugal. It naturally follows that, in Tavira, they know how to serve tuna. This recipe is for Algarve-style tuna steak, where the tuna is seared and stewed in a refogado of onions, peppers, garlic, white wine and tomatoes. It’s not the only…
Braised pork sausages in savoy cabbage (salsichas frescas em couve-lombarda)
September has hit, and with it being ever so slightly cooler, I decided to cook a dish that reminds me of more Northern climes. The first time I’d eaten salsichas com couve-lombarda was after seeing it on the menu at a very local churrasqueira in Ajuda, Lisbon. Except it’s not a typical churrasco barbecue dish:…
Lisbon-style steak sandwich (prego no pão)
The highest form of midday indulgence. Or post-seafood dinner beer soaking. Or, whenever you might fancy a spicy, garlicky cut of lean steak inside a crusty bread roll. Which, if you’re sensible, should be often. The prego – steak sandwich found up and down Portugal – seems to be the namesake of a one Manuel…
Portuguese rabbit stew (coelho guisado)
Whenever it appears on a daily menu, rabbit is one of those dishes that I will probably choose by default. Unless it’s already sold out, which is usually the case. Coelho remains a go-to game dish in Portugal, as well as much of the continent (take Italy’s Coniglio alla Cacciatora, or Lapin a La Cocotte…
Ameijoas à Bulhão Pato c/ pão torrada (Portuguese clams with toasted buttered bread)
Ameijoas à Bulhão Pato. Classic Portuguese petisco. Fresh enough for early spring evenings, solacing enough for chilly autumn nights. The name of this dish can cause some confusion. Pato usually refers to duck, which is a common enough ingredient in Portuguese cuisine. But this dish certainly doesn’t contain duck. There’s no secret addition of duck…
Wild Boar Alheira with Turnip Green Rice (Alheira de Javali c/ Arroz de Grelos)
Javali. Sus scrofa. The wild boar. Apparently, there’s an overpopulation of them in Portugal. That might explain the recent surprise arrival of Alheira de Javali in my local supermarket. Boar is something I normally associate with Italian dishes (a certain tantalising wild boar ragu served over handmade Ciriole in the hilly forests of Umbria comes…