This past semester I studied abroad in London, and I was lucky enough to take a weekend trip to Lisbon, Portugal with my school. While I did some food research going in (my favorite part of planning trips), I still wasn't quite sure what to expect. And here's the real tea: Portuguese food is AMAZING.
Day One
Our first meal after a looooong morning (bused to the airport at 3am), we had Brazilian BBQ for lunch. Makes sense when you consider how long Brazil was a colony of Portugal. We started with a buffet of sides, including fried plantains, beans and rice, and a bunch of miscellaneous fried items which I ate, but couldn't tell you what they were. Then, servers came around with various kinds of meats on skewers. Sausage, pork, chicken, three kinds of steak, whatever you wanted, they had it. We had fruit and brigadieros, which are small chocolate truffles made with condensed milk and sprinkles, for dessert.
My next food stop was for one of Portugal's best known treats: the pastel de nata. This small custard tart is known for its wobbly custard, buttery pastry, and cinnamon speckled top. Pasteis de nata are said to have been invented by a group of monks living in Jeronimos Monastery and have become a national symbol for Portugal. They did not disappoint, and I'm counting the days until I get another. We ended the day with sangria at a rooftop bar, because the weather was beautiful even though it was February.
Day Two
For lunch, we had a makeshift picnic on the water of the River Tagus-- a nice prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich on olive bread from a local bakery. I'm not ashamed to admit that my gelato was the biggest portion of my lunch: Salted Chocolate gelato should be sold everywhere because it was some of the best gelato I've ever had.
Our walking tour guide recommended El Decadente for dinner, a restaurant that served up classic Portuguese food with a twist in Bairro Alto. A friend and I split two different meals to try the most food, because we're both #foodies. Our first dish was cod confit with roasted potatoes and butter sauce, because cod is one of Portugal's specialty, and our second was beef tenderloin with aioli and fried potatoes. Both were incredible and went well with our (arguably cheap) Portuguese red wine. I can see why cod is so big in Lisbon, because it was SO fresh. For dessert, we split their crispy pear dessert, which included pistachios, filo pastry, salted caramel sauce, and vanilla ice cream.
Day Three
We went on a food tour, aka my dream activity. We started out at Time Out Market, a food hall full of local vendors and restauranteurs that has locations across the globe, celebrating local chefs and cuisine: the perfect place to try some Portuguese food.
There were so many vendors that it was hard to choose, but I got a traditional beef and pork croquette from one stand and a cold octopus salad with bread at another-- just enough to get a taste of local produce and food. Octopus is big in Lisbon, as is all seafood, and I'm glad I got a chance to try it.
Our next stop was Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau, right on one of Lisbon's prettiest main strips. This place is famous for, you guessed it, its pasteis de bacalhau, which are salted cod fritters. Sounds a bit gross, but as I've mentioned, the Portuguese know how to do their cod. This salty dumpling is filled with a molten cheese center and is a mouthwatering snack that you will NOT regret getting.
Our final food tour item was for Ginjinha, a sweet cherry liqueur that is made by infusing the berries in liquor and adding a LOT of sugar. It's traditionally served with one of those sour cherries floating in the bottom (and it was VERY sour, let me tell you), and you can get it at any of the small ginjinha bars littered throughout the city. Although it definitely wasn't my favorite thing that I tried, it was invented in Lisbon and was fun to try. I'd recommend that you do it too, just to say that you did!
For dinner, Fordham set us up with a local circus themed restaurant that provided traditional Portuguese food for all of us, including cold appetizers, including cold salmon and salt cod, prawns, and a chestnut and mushroom soup, and two choices of hot mains. I, of course, had both.
One was a creamy cod casserole - bachalau con natas (are you sensing a pattern here?). It had spinach mixed in and strong hints of nutmeg- both delicious and unexpected in what I thought would be a very savory dish. Our other dish was beef, clams, and fried potatoes with a light wine sauce on them, in the style of Pork Alentejana, yet another traditional Portuguese meal. We finished off our meal with glasses of port, a sweet, red fortified wine that originated in Portugal. None of my friends were into it, but I was a big fan.
Day Four
Not ashamed to admit that, yet again, I had gelato for lunch, this time a tiramisu flavor. What's the point of nice weather if you can't just eat ice cream constantly?
While I was sad to say goodbye to Lisbon and all of its culinary wonders, I will definitely be back. After all, they say that Portuguese people have enough recipes made with salt cod to eat a different one very day of the year! There's still so much Portuguese food that I haven't tried and a return trip is (hopefully) in my future.