Exploring Portugal—from Pork to Port

Take a trip through six delicious regions of Portugal, sampling custard, sausages, seafood, and the country's namesake wine

T ucked away in the northwest corner of the country is the Minho, one of the country's most traditional regions. Even though iPods and Prada shoes are becoming a more frequent sight, it's still possible to see cattle grazing in wide-open pastures and children being picked up from school in ox-drawn carts. Because of favorable weather and plenty of rainfall, the area is lushly green. Some say all this greenery is why the famous local wine was christened vinho verde, or "green wine." But the moniker has more to do with the youth and slight effervescence of the wine, which is meant to be quaffed cold. The citrus, grassy notes of white vinho verde (there are also red and rosé counterparts) pair beautifully with another specialty of the region, caldo verde (green soup), a concoction of whisker-thin slices of vibrant Galician kale stirred into a puréed base of potatoes and onions, all topped with the customary single slice of spicy, deeply smoked chouriço sausage.

Pousada de Santa Marinha, a restored monastery, serves local specialties such as salt cod and rich, eggy custards. Photograph courtesy of Pousada de Santa Marinha

The restaurant Solar do Arco, in the center of the historic city Guimarães, offers an excellent version of caldo verde along with other Minho specialties, including the slippery arroz de lampreia (lamprey and rice stew) made with chouriço, vinho verde, and onions, all freckled with parsley and served over rice. Because the rice is so deeply flavored, wet, and slurpingly luscious, it's been nicknamed arroz maroto (naughty rice). Another must-order here is the restaurant's take on the classic rojões à Minhota, a mix of garlicky pork ribs, farinheira (sausage stuffed with a peppery flour-and-pork filling), roasted potatoes, and chestnuts.

Beware: In Portugal, family wars have been waged over the correct way to prepare a recipe. To many in the Minho, and other parts of the country, rojões is perfectly fried chunks of pork seasoned with nothing more than salt and pepper. Try both versions, but keep your opinion to yourself.

On the outskirts of Guimarães is the Pousada de Santa Marinha, a restored monastery, whose local specialties include bacalhau com broa (salt cod with earthy cornmeal bread crumbs pressed on top) and the fancifully named toucinho do céu (bacon from heaven), one of Portugal's rich egg-yolk custards laced with sweet pumpkin, ground almonds, and fragrant cinnamon. The porcine reference is believed to come from a time when lard or bacon was used in the dish.

In Braga, the city of churches and pastries, food and architecture jockey for supremacy. A Brasileira, cousin to the café of the same name in Lisbon, is an ideal spot to people-watch while munching on a pastel de nata, a brown-freckled baked custard in a pastry cup. To drink, ask for um café (a small shot of eye-popping coffee) served with a cinnamon stick meant for stirring, or uma galão (a shot of coffee topped off with a generous pour of full-fat milk).

The pastelaria Frigideiradas do Cantinho combines antiquities and classic baked goods in one storefront: The floor is made of glass in spots to reveal preserved Roman ruins below cases heavy with fresh pastries.

For a more substantial meal, try Bem-me-Quer, a local favorite a few blocks from one of the city's original six gates. House specialties include tender polvo grelhado (grilled octopus); crispy cabrito assado no forno (roasted kid); the indulgent arroz de pato (duck with rice, smoked sausage, sweet carrots, and onions); and frigideira de carne (shredded beef, minced onions, red peppers, and spices in an earthenware dish topped with puff pastry). If you have the fortitude, try the pudim do abade de priscos, a custard made with 48 egg yolks, 24 eggs, sugar, port wine, and cinnamon. To add to the confusing lexicon of Portuguese sweets, this dessert, unlike "bacon from heaven," does contain rendered lard.

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