Portuguese cuisine is also diverse when it comes to appetizers, snacks, and sandwiches. Did you think food in Portugal is only seafood? Neither limited to seafood nor to pork, but pork is also present in some of the most famous Portuguese side dishes such as torresmo, bifana, and sandes de courato. However, there are options for travelers who don’t eat pork such as the sandwich prego, as well for vegetarians and for those who prefer seafood as an appetizer, as the dishes Caracóis de Lisboa and Peixinhos da Horta.
Portuguese snacks go perfect with a beer, wine, or sangria, or after partying all night to recover from the drinks. The local bars tasca and the family restaurants marisqueiras are the places where locals go to eat snacks while getting together.
Sardines
There’s no trip to Portugal without tasting the sardines, whether grilled or canned. Grilled sardines are popular appetizers on the busiest streets in Lisbon’s oldest neighborhoods, especially in June during the Festivities of Saint Anthony. For canned sardines in Lisbon, I recommend going to Sol & Pesca and Conserveira de Lisboa, where you can buy canned sardines.
Torresmo
Torresmo is a popular snack in Portugal, made of using a pigskin base fried in oil until getting crisp, largely consumed at local bars accompanying a beer or a spirit.
Chouriço
Chouriço is the Portuguese pork sausage that usually works as the entry meal before the arrival of a beam of sardines to the table, or before a barbecue is ready. It’s usually served in slices with bread.
Bifana
Bifana is one of the sandwiches eaten after partying all night when almost no place is open in the town, prepared with roasted pork and bread, and mustard can be added. It’s an alternative for those who don’t enjoy eating grilled sardines, which I find weird once you step into Portugal.
Sandes de Courato
Sandes de Courato is a sandwich made with courato, the thick skin of grilled pork on the grill, found at local markets, bars and restaurants. It’s another of those dishes that people eat to recover energy after partying all night long.
Prego
Prego, which in Portuguese means nail, is a sandwich made from sliced grilled beef that is also marinade in garlic and other spices, served in a bread roll. Normally, prego is eaten adding mustard. At local cafes and restaurants, it can be served on bread (no pão) or on a plate (no prato).
Caracóis de Lisboa
Caracóis de Lisboa is a seafood that is eaten as an appetizer at local bars or at the small family restaurants petisqueiras accompanied with beer or sangria. Basically, it’s a snack of salted snails.
Ovos Verdes
Ovos Verdes is a Portuguese vegetarian snack prepared by boiling eggs, cutting them half, then stuffing, breaded until is fried. By its traditional recipe, it’s emulsified yolk with olive oil, spices, vinegar, and parsley.
Peixinhos da Horta
Pexinhos da Horta is prepared with breaded and fried green beans, another option for vegetarians traveling to Portugal. Its name refers to its lookalike appearance with fish and you can also find it at food markets such as the TimeOut in Lisbon.
What is your favorite Portuguese appetizer? For more tips on where to eat in Lisbon, you find in other articles information about cafes in Lisbon and seafood.
Originally posted 2021-12-12 19:51:49.
