Travel and Leisure
Almost everywhere you go in the world, they will have their local specialty dish, which needs to be sampled, of course. And no, I don't mean eating pizza in Italy (but if you are in Naples, that would be appropriate!). Like the time we were in Florence, and I ordered the wild boar ragu on a bed of pappardelle pasta - it was amazing! Anyhow, when you think of Portugal, meals of grilled sardines usually comes to mind. But in the North, specifically Porto, they have a different specialty - the Francesinhna. Legend has it, that a returning emigrant wanted to put a local spin on the French croque-monsieur (Monte Cristo) sandwich.
It is made with stale bread, with layers of steak, ham and Portuguese sausage, with a few layers of melted cheese on top, then covered and swimming in a spicy beer and tomato sauce. Sometimes served with a fried egg on top, just in case you thought there wasn't enough protein there. If you thought that you weren't going to be full after this sandwich, it usually is accompanied by a side of french fries! Normally a lunch item, we decided it was time to try one around the dinner hour.
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| An evening stroll in the Ribeira district to walk off the Francesinha |
The first bite (knife and fork are mandatory) was very interesting - the mix of flavours and texture is definitely appealing. I found however, that the key to eating a Francesinha is to ensure that you have a little bit of everything in each bite - steak, ham, sausage, cheese-covered bread, and sauce. Missing a bit of sausage or steak alters the flavour just slightly, enough to make me ration out the rest of the ingredients to make sure each bite was the same. Two of us had the Francesinha at a little restaurant on the bank of the Douro in the Ribeira district - almost every restaurant there will serve them. As a meal, most folks could split one, if accompanied by fries. Eating one (without fries) was more than enough for me, and I spent the rest of the evening lying down, cradling my full belly; happy, but very full.
Oh and Porto's other claim to fame? I'll save that post for another rainy day.
