Suckling pig Bairrada style

This has to be one the most known and appreciated dish and was nominated one of the seven wonders of Portuguese cuisine. Originally from the region of Bairrada, some 70km south of Oporto, people flock here to appreciate both this typical dish and the excellent wines this region produces.
The oldest document that refers this delicacy dates back from 1743, being a recipe from a convent.
With it's golden brown crispy skin and tender meat, the sucking pig with a month to a month and a half of age and at about 6 to 8 kilos, becomes an experience for the senses.

You'll need:
1 suckling pig
Crushed garlic cloves
Sea salt
Pepper (plenty)
Lard
Parsley

Push a rod through the pig and rub the mixture of the lard, the crushed garlic, the salt and the pepper through the inside of the pig, using up all of this mixture.
While the wood oven is heating up, sew the pig with needle and kitchen thread so that it's closed.
Put the pig in the oven, placing a platter underneath so that the juices are collected here.
Every half hour, take out the pig and "clean" the skin with a cloth to remove the excess fat. By removing the pig from the oven to clean, this provokes a thermal shock which will make the skin crispier.
It takes between an hour and a half to two hours for the pig to cook. When it's done, take out the rod and serve on a platter.
Serve with fried potatoes and a sparkling red wine.

Bom apetite.

Duck Fricasse with cinnamon

Fricasse is one of the most popular dishes in Portugal. One can make fricasse from almost anything, being the most common chicken fricasse. The secret of the portuguese fricasse is in the creamy sauce which has as a core ingredient egg yolks and the acidic touch of the lemon, both mandatory in the recipe. So here goes the recipe natural to the north of Portugal.

Ingredients:
1 duck
2 table spoons of butter
1 onion
1 table spoon olive oil
3 egg yolks
2 small lemons
parsley
1/2 a coffee spoon of cinnamon
salt
pepper
cabbage

Break the duck into pieces and season with salt and the juice on 1 lemon.
After some time (an hour or two) grease the duck pieces with the butter and put them in a platter. Cover the platter with greased paper and the cabbage leaves and cook in the oven.
On the side, cook the onion and the olive oil until the onion becomes transparent. Add a little bit of water and let boil. Add the duck and all the juices from the platter and let boil.
On the side prepare the fricasse. In a bowl mix the yolks with the lemon juice and a little of the duck juices. Add the chopped parsley, the cinnamon and pepper. Mix all this. Add this mixture to the duck in the pot at low heat to cook the eggs.
Serve with white rice.
Personally I'd prefer a white wine, or a light red wine to go this dish.

Bom apetite.

Baba de Camelo

Today I bring you a recipe of a dessert which doesn't have the most appealing name. Translated it means camel drool. Hehehe. I can imagine you face right now. This is actually quite delicious but does have a strong taste. It's one of the easiest and fastest recipes to make. So here goes,

Ingredients
1 can of condensed milk
6 eggs
1/2 lemon

Cook the can of condensed milk in the pressure cooker for 45 minutes. After letting it cool down, add the egg yolks and beat. Add the juice of the 1/2 lemon. Beat the egg whites until firm and incorporate into the previous mixture with a fork. If you wish you may make individual servings or place in a bowl. Let this sit in the fridge for some time and serve cold.
Decorate with chopped toasted almonds if desired, or to taste.

Bom apetite

Lamb Chanfana

Chanfana is a traditional portuguese dish. The most accurate version of the origin of this dish takes us to the history of Portugal and the French invasion of 1810, when they entered the northeast of Portugal coming across the border in August 1810. On September 1810 they suffered a major defeat at the battle of Bussaco. Regrouping their troops, the French military forces push the Luso-British south, who remain in that region for about three years. During these three years of occupation, the French military looted the people around their barracks which were located in the regions of Penacova, Vila Nova de Poiares. The French plundered everything when they could, getting their hands on grains and animals, excluding older animals, which were too tough to eat. Thus were born the first lanpatana and chanfana recipes (in this area north of Mortágua Buçaco with the difference that instead of goat old sheep was used).

There are, ofcourse, many variations of this dish, varying from on region to another. Today I bring you one of those versions. Enjoy :-)

Ingredients:
2kg Lamb
1 head of garlic
2 bay leafs
1 green pepper
paprika
salt
red wine
black pepper
1 bunch coriander
vegetable margarine
olive oil
1 onion

We need to season the meat, chopped into pieces, the day before. In a baking pan, place the meat and add the salt, the ground pepper, the chopped garlic, the bay leafs, the chopped green pepper and the chopped onion. Then we place the bunch of coriander over the top, chopped finely. Finally, pour the wine into the pan until the meat is covered, adding in a drizzle of olive oil. Mix all this together and let rest until the next day (24h). 
Before placing the pan into the heated oven, pour enough wine until the meat covered to compensate for the wine absorbed by the meat and add 3 to 4 table spoons of margarine. Mix everything again, cover the pan (if you don't have a lid big enough, you can use tin foil. Place in the oven and let cook at low heat. It should take about 2 hours to cook. Every now and then, stir the meat to prevent it from becoming dry. You should tell that the meat is cooked when it starts to come off the bone.


To accompany this delicious meat, some baked potatoes will go really nicely. Or you may prefer rice with saffron and raisins. 


A bodied red wine will go very well with this dish. 


Bom apetite

Sweet Rice (Rice Pudding)

This is one of the favourites, especially in the cold months and particularly at Christmas time. Curiously, this delicatessen has Turkish or Arab origins and is appreciated all over the world. Here is (one of) the Portuguese version.

250gr rice
0,75 lt milk
250gr sugar
3 egg yolks
lemon peel (to taste)
1 cinnamon stick
Ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Heat the milk in a pot and when it starts to boil add the sugar, the rice, the salt, the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick. As soon as the rice is cooked, take off the heat and let cool a bit. On the side, beat the egg yolks and incorporate in the rice. Get the pot on a low burner to cook the yolks. Serve in a large dish or in individual dishes sprinkled with the ground cinnamon.

Bom apetite.

Rabanadas

This dessert is traditionally served at Christmas time but is great any time of year. Especially in the colder months accompanied by a glass of port wine.
It's basically slices of bread soaked in milk then fried. There's more to them then that, though. But they are delicious and one of my favourite desserts. Here is how to make them.

Ingredients
1,2 lt milk
8 slices of bread
6 eggs
6 table spoons of sugar
Skin of half a lemon
2 cinnamon sticks
Vegetable oil
Ground cinnamon and sugar to taste

Bring the milk to a boil with the cinnamon sticks and the lemon skin. Let it cool down. Beat the eggs until well beaten. Pour the milk into a deep plate so that it's easier to soak the bread slices in the milk. Be careful not to let them soak for too long as they will break and we don't want that. Do this and then pass the slices through the beaten eggs. Next, fry the slices in hot oil until they are golden brown.Turn them over as necessary. Place them over kitchen paper so that the excess oil may be lost, then place in the serving platter. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Enjoy.

Bacalhau

One of Portugal's favourite ingredient is Bacalhau. For those who don't know what this is, it's a fish. Cod, to be more precise. But in Portugal, cod isn't consumed fresh. The cod that is preferred has been salted and dried. To cook it, it has to be rehidrated and this is what I'll be explaining next.

To rehidrate the cod, it has to be cut into pieces as shown in this image  

These pieces are then to be soaked in cold water for 24 to 48 hours, depending on the size of the fish, taking care to change this water every 6 to 8 hours. If the water isn't changed, it will start to smell bad and ruin the fish. This process serves, not only to rehidrtae the fish, but also, to extract the excess salt. If the fish hasn't soaked for enough time, it'll be too salty and will ultimately ruin the dish. If soaked for too long, it's easier to remedy - just add salt to the dish. After the fish has been soaked, it is ready do be cooked, or frozen right away.

The higher pieces are ideal for cooking over the grill or in the oven. The medium ones are usually used for dishes where the fish is cooked in stews and the lower pieces are used for recipes where they are broken down into strands.

I hope this was a compreehensive explanation of one of Portugal's favourite fish.