Pasteis de Nata, Porco Preto and Bifana

I am a foodie and a good part of travel for me is enjoying the regional foods and trying new things. We have had some delicious tastes and some wonderful meals. I am sure you will hear more (if you choose) about the food from this trip but right now we are in Portugal and the dishes that have blown us both away are the pastel de nata and the black porc -Porco Preto – and the bifana.

Today we toured Belém which is the birthplace of the pastel de nata and I have just had my third of the day so I thought it was a great time to pay homage to this tart. It could be one of the best bites I have ever had.

The Pastel de Nata was invented in the 18th century by monks at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belem. Many many egg whites were used to starch nuns’ clothes, leaving the monks with leftover yolks. To use these yolks up, they began baking delicious custard tarts. The pastries became famous and you can find replicas all over Portugal. In fact, we even saw them in Spain. But the original recipe (a guarded secret) is only made by the owners of the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém. Today, this shop is right by the monastery which is now a tourist attraction and museum.

The Pastel de Nata is a tart. The shell is made from crispy, flaky pastry, and the filling is a creamy custard. Once baked, the tart is caramelised on top, sprinkled with cinnamon and the best ones are served warm. We have had them for breakfast, as a dessert and just because. We wish, wish, wish that we could bring them home to share – they really are that good.

The black pork is another delicious and interesting Portuguese dish. It is called Porco Preto. and it comes from a dark-skinned pig fattened on acorns. During the fattening phase, these pigs, which have never been crossbred, roam freely over the countryside, eating the acorns native to the area. The acorns are the secret that makes these pigs so special. It gives the meat a kind of nutty flavor and the fat content is more healthy as it is monounsaturated like olive oil. I’m sure that’s more information that anyone needed to know but I found it so interesting and so delicious. I don’t consider myself a big pork eater but we have had this incredible dish twice and may again before we leave Portugal.

I had to edit this post and add this street food after our tour this morning. The Bifana – We had heard it was Portugals favourite sandwich and we each had one early in our trip. It was good but nothing real memorable, and we thought – okay we tried that and checked it off our list. When we went on our TukTuk tour the other day, our driver stopped in front of this little storefront and said, “before you leave Lisbon, you have to come here and have a Bifana – they make the very best”. We smiled and said we’d try, both knowing we weren’t going to climb Lisbon’s hills for a Bifana. BUT as sometimes happens, when we were walking down, down, down from the Sao George Castle this morning we walked right by the little shop he recommended, it was noon and we were hungry. We agreed that we had to give the sandwich another try. We ordered two Bifana and two water. The owner/waiter said very loudly, “you break my heart, you don’t eat Bifana with water, it’s made to drink with wine or beer. The cue of people waiting for sandwiches all laughed and agreed with the owner. Jim can’t drink wine or beer so they let him get away with a Coke but I had to have a beer.

Marinated in a mix of white wine, paprika, olive oil, and lots of garlic, thin slices of pork steak are wedged between tasty bread, creating one delicious sandwich. You are handed mustard and piri piri (which is a local chili sauce) and we added both and then went to find a step or a ledge where we could balance and eat – all for $8.40E for two people. Good Bifana from this place has now been added to our favourite foods of Portugal. So glad our path took us that way, so glad we stopped and so glad I paired it with a beer. This Bifana was delicious. Without a doubt worth climbing hills for.