Bifanas, Francesinha… Discover the Top 10 culinary specialities in Porto

Porto, it’s sunshine on your plate! With the River Douro running through it and surrounded by mountain ranges, the city is bursting with fresh produce from both land and sea. The cuisine is copious and often quite economical. A good example? If you’re going away in winter, you’ll love warming up with a low-priced octopus soup. Portuguese cuisine is full of surprises. During your trip, you’ll discover new flavours with irresistible tastes. To help you make up your mind, here is our selection of the 10 culinary specialities of Porto.

Where to eat in Porto Our selection of 10 Porto specialities

1.bifanas

Let’s start with one of the city’s must-try dishes, which is nothing more than a simple and effective little snack: Bifanas (or pork cutlets). These are sandwiches made from bijou bread (a very tasty white bread roll), filled with shavings of pork meat and cooked in a delicious sauce. This dish is very common in Porto and is served in many restaurants and cafés. It’s typically the kind of meal that children love, and there’s never a crumb left on the plate! The recipes and flavours vary depending on the menu, so it’s always an original dish!

2 Francesinha

Typical of Porto, the Francesinha is a sandwich made up of two thick slices of sandwich bread and a choice of different types of meat (pork, steak, ham, sausage). The sandwich is topped with a beer sauce, cheese sauce, tomato coulis, port wine, cornstarch, milk and piri-piri pepper (a Portuguese must). Rated as one of the best sandwiches in the world, it can be served with chips or an egg. The origins of this dish are also very surprising! Francesinha was created by a French immigrant by the name of Daniel David Silva. He is said to have worked in the 60s in a restaurant called “A Regaleira”, and to have revisited the croque-monsieur. Hence the birth of the Francesinha!

3 Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde, also known as “green soup”, is one of Porto’s most traditional recipes. Caldo Verde is an eye-catching soup made from potatoes, kale, a drizzle of olive oil and a few slices of chorizo. It’s so famous and popular that some of Portugal’s greatest poets have quoted it in their writings, including Eça de Queiroz and Fernando Pessoa. When the cold comes to Portugal, you’ll be delighted to be able to enjoy this harmoniously prepared broth. Would you like a few slices of bread? Don’t worry, it goes well with the meat mixed in with the rest.

4 Tripas à moda do Porto

Made from tripe and served with white beans and white rice, this dish is very popular with the Portuguese… And that’s not all! It is prepared in two distinct stages: the day before, the white beans are soaked in cold water, then left to simmer until the next day; they are then cooked with the tripe and savoured. Depending on your preferences, different types of meat can go well with this recipe: but many enjoy eating it with ears or salted pig’s trotters and smoked belly. A real treat!

5 Pao de lo

This is a festive dish that can be found on absolutely every Portuguese family table at Christmas or Easter. In Portugal, you don’t have to make anything complicated to enjoy it. Pao de lo is a very moist cake made from flour, sugar and eggs. Considered an essential part of the country’s gastronomic heritage, it is a slightly spongy, yellowish cake baked in a pretty clay mould. Served with tea or coffee, it’s a real treat!

6 Pudim de vunho do Porto

Let’s keep up the good work and move on to one of Portugal’s best-known desserts, Pudim de vinho do Porto. Easily recognisable, we particularly like its soft, sunset-like colour. It is in fact an egg pudding, very traditional in the city of Porto. It is covered with a thick layer of caramel and a light touch of wine, which gives the recipe an absolutely exquisite taste. In fact, on the palate, it’s an explosion of flavours that you’re sure to remember forever…

7.bacalhau bolinhos

Are you with friends and want to treat everyone to an aperitif with a Portuguese speciality? Make Bolinhos de bacalhau, it couldn’t be easier! These salted cod croquettes are made with potatoes, cod, onions and parsley, and are served hot or cold. Just as you like it! It’s usually eaten as a starter, with a delicious fresh salad on the side. If you want to eat them as a main course, they go very well with rice.

8 Papas de Sarrabulho

If you translate “Papas de Sarrabulho” literally into French, you get “blood purée”. When you put it like that, it sounds a bit strange. Unless you’re a vampire (we doubt there are any among our readers), it’s hard to see how you could eat this dish. And yet it’s one of the most exquisite in Porto! It’s actually a mixture of different types of meat. The porridges are made with ham, chicken, beef, sausage, pig’s blood and other ingredients. Perfect for warming up in winter, this is the kind of original meal you really must try if you’re visiting Portugal!

9 Polvo com molho verde

If you want to enjoy Porto during the summer, try “Polvo com molho verde”, a seafood-based dish. That’s right! Here they are at last. A tasty recipe made with boiled octopus, olives, delicious potatoes, boiled eggs and onions. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to eat it in Porto, as it’s one of the most common dishes served in restaurants. If you want to try it, go all out and enjoy it by the sea. Let’s get in the mood!

10.sardinhas assadas

Let’s finish this ranking with a second dish from the wonders of the sea: sardinhas assadas are a very popular fish in Porto. They can be cooked in a variety of ways: fried, boiled, grilled, in soup… The choice is endless. After cleaning, they are grilled with coarse salt on both sides for 10 minutes. Many people like to eat them with slices of bread, roast potatoes or peppers. Portugal even has a traditional sardine festival at the beginning of August. Come and join in the fun!