A beer 21/04/2008

How to order a beer?

You can ask for a fino (phihnu): “um fino, por favor! “; which is 20 cl, small wider necked glass, this is the most common request when it comes to beer, served with “tremoços” (En:LupineLupinus albus L) a kind of big peas only pigs eat elsewhere, but a treat for the portuguese palate. Mind you, they require an eating learning process, if you want to be seen as a regular guy in town: you’ll have to tear the skin with your teeth and just eat the inside.

Should your thirst require a softer but beerish drink, then try a panaché (pahnahsheih) a mix of beer and seven up, quite refreshing in the summer which goes also nicely with a francesinha.

But this is not all! You can order a tango, instead of the dance you get a beer with red-currant sirup. A bit sweetish for my taste, but …

Francesinhas 23/02/2008

Ever tried a frenchy? No? You definitely need to come to Porto.

 

 The Past

Once upon a time, some say, during the period of the French Invasions, the french soldiers used to eat sandwiches of mixed meats and a lot of cheese. One main ingredient was missing: the sauce folks of Porto poured over the sandwich. But in fact it most probably is only 60 years old, when an ex-emigrant, Daniel David Silva, then working in the Restaurante a Regaleira, created the francesinha based on the french speciality croque-monsieur.

 What is it made of?

You put steak, cooked ham, sausages or roasted meat between 2 slices of bread. Cover it with a layer of cheese, let the cheese melt a bit and then cover it with a sauce made of tomato, onion, garlic, pepper, beer and some more ingredients. And there you are a delicious francesinha

Where can you eat a francesinha?

Café Pontual, Rua do Almada Its a regular cafe in Porto, but the owners came from the late Café Luso, where you could eat probably the best francesinha in town.

Capa Negra, R. Campo Alegre 191, Porto  This is one of the most famous in town for this speciality, its open until quite late and always serving delicatessen of the kind

Convívio, R. Arquitecto Marques Silva 303, Porto Another famous place to go late hours!

Tascas 20/02/2008

I’m hungry! Walking down the street I look for a place to eat. There are several possibilities, if you take into account the fact that in Portugal there is one restaurant for each 131 inhabitants (375 per restaurant in EU). So the choice is rather big, and what I’d really like is one of those traditional, quite old, and rather messy Tascas.

Most of them are gone, now that more fashionable and neat places are available, and they might scare you off at start, with that odour of used frying oil or even wine turned vinegar… but don’t let yourself be put off: it is still worthy to go inside and try some of those typical, greasy treats we have in our Portuguese menu and be with the one side of the genuine Portuguese folks…

Be warned: Nothing really for the weak and frail…

Here are some of the places you can try (it might be handy to speak some Portuguese!)

• “A Badalhoca” – R. Dr. Alberto Macedo (Ramalde)
• Adega Leandro – Rua de Trás, 12, aos Lóios
• Tasca O Alfredo Portista – Rua do Cativo, in Sé
• Adega Quim – R. da Madeira, S. Bento Station

interested? Then you can find the existing 80 of them in the book: