Portuguese Staple Foods
Portugal draws its cuisine from influences around the world. Numerous spices and ingredients contribute to an array of dishes and flavors. No matter the origin, though, a few foods and traditional dishes remain staples for the Portuguese people. For example, according to the "Discovering Portugal" website, the Portuguese eat more seafood, including fish, than other Europeans. In addition, non-seafood dishes create more variety in Portuguese staples. Does this Spark an idea?
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Bacalhau
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The Portuguese enjoy Bacalhau, a salted codfish dish, made in countless ways. Locals claim a different recipe exists for every day of the year. Two favored variations "Bacalhau com Natas" and "Bacalhau à Brás" include onions, olive oil and potatoes cut into strips. Bacalhau à Bras is cooked in the style of fried rice and garnished with large black olives. The Bacalhau com Natas, a type of creamy potato gratin along with the cod, also contains giant shrimp. For people that try to eat a bit healthier, unsalted versions of the dish create that option. Cooks make this traditional food year round for any occasion.
Cozido à Portuguesa
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Meat stew, known as Cozido à Portuguesa, consists of assorted meats and a few vegetables. The Portuguese add pork, beef and poultry into this one single stew. Sausages thrown into the mix came about as a secret way of avoiding pork during the Inquisition. Jews did not eat pork because of religious beliefs. To convince Christians that they had converted, they secretly filled sausage casings with poultry instead of pork. Thus the Christians thought the Jewish Portuguese were eating pork sausages in the Cozido à Portuguesa and, therefore, believed they had converted to Christianity. Originally only the wealthy ate meat, but now all Portuguese enjoy meat and meat stews as a staple.
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Pasteis de Belem
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Pasteis de Belem, found only in the Pasteis de Belem bakeshop in Portugal, resulted from a secret recipe created by monks in the 1800s. Monks still make these pastries in a secret room in their bakery. A generic form of the secret kind sells elsewhere. That version, called pastéis de natas, consists of a sweet custard tart. Other favorite sweets aside from Pasteis de Belem include cakes or biscuits with assorted sugars and cinnamon. The Portuguese also enjoy a famous sweet rice pudding named arroz doce. Most Portuguese pastries and desserts contain eggs and cream.
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References
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- Photo Credit red cod image by Paula Gent from Fotolia.com
