Portuguese chouriço bread Recipe | Food From Portugal (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular bread in Portugal? ›

Among traditional Portuguese breads are carcaca, a fluffy wheat roll; pao de Mafra, a rough wheat bread from the Mafra region (similar to pao saloio, or peasant bread, and pao caseiro, or family bread); canhola, semirefined wheat bread; mistura, mixed barley-wheat bread.

This typical bread is shaped as a long loaf with a characteristic fold on one end. Its wheat based dough has a high hydration, resulting in a fairly soft crust and crumb, often with holes.

Pão Alentejano, the Portuguese name for Altentejo bread is a long fermentation bread made with sourdough.

The night before I traveled down to New Jersey to unite with my mother, aunt, cousin and niece to make “chouriço” (Portuguese smoked sausage), “O Lenço da Carolina” by Fado singer Cristina Branco came on via Portuguese satellite TV.

Bacalhau, which translates to cod in English, is Portugal's national dish, a symbol of the country's identity, and one of the most popular foods in restaurants across the country. Bacalhau is such a go-to staple in Portuguese cuisine that it even has an endearing nickname: fiel amigo, or faithful friend.

Francesinha. Possibly the most famous Portuguese sandwich, the Francesinha is a genuine – if slightly chaotic – masterpiece. A far cry from the simplicity of the bifana and prego, this is the kind of legendary dish that everyone should try at least once – ideally in Porto, where it was invented.

Massa Sovada ( lit. 'kneaded dough') is typically round loaves that are enriched with butter, eggs, milk, and sugar from the Azores traditionally eaten at Easter and on the Feast of the Holy Spirit. It is sometimes flavored with fennel or lemon zest.

When I came to the US for the first time, I saw bags of “Hawaiian bread” that looked similar to the “pao doce” from my childhood. Only a few years later I learned that indeed those are all the same, brought both to Hawaii and New England by Portuguese immigrants.

“That's a tradition from the old country,” Goretti said. Goretti was referring to her native country of Portugal, where it is customary to eat sweet bread with a hard-boiled egg baked into its center on Easter Sunday. The egg symbolizes new life and the resurrection of Christ.

There is nothing like a fresh broa! Broa de milho is a rich and dense bread, a bit sweet, whose yellow colour comes from corn flour. Traditionally made in the North of Portugal, this bread is a mix of wheat and cornflour, and then baked in a wood oven.

What is the black bread in Portugal? ›

Pão alentejano refers to a traditional Portuguese bread originating from the Alentejo region of Portugal. Recognized for its round shape and distinctive crust, this bread is made with a mix of different types of wheat flour and sometimes incorporates a sourdough starter, which lends it a slightly tangy flavor.

Take for instance, the famous Caldo Verde soup, or feijoada (bean stew), or even the appetizer “chouriço à bombeiro” (flame grilled sausage). The truth is whether you enjoy it raw, baked, fried, or grilled, chouriço is part of menu.

For both chouriço and linguiça, you can substitute Spanish chorizo, but make sure it's the dry-cured version; Spain also makes a raw product. Be forewarned, though: Spanish links can be much fattier than chouriço or linguiça, so drain or skim the fat during cooking.

Yes, they are similar, but they are not the same. Portuguese chourico and Mexican/Spanish chorizo are both spiced pork sausages. However, Mexican chorizo is fresh and not fully cooked, and Spanish chorizo is cured. Portuguese chourico is a smoked sausage, so it is fully cooked and ready to eat.

Bread (pão): The Basics

Papo-seco/carcaça. This type of bread is a standard bread made of wheat flour and is shaped into single-serving loaves. They're used to make typical Portuguese toasted sandwiches, tostas (below), which contain ham, cheese, or both and are usually eaten at breakfast or lanche. Bola de mistura.

Bread plays an important role in traditional Portuguese cuisine and forms the basis of many hearty soups and main dishes, especially in the Alentejo region.