Francesinha and Beer. Porto, Portugal

 August 2019


Porto’s iconic monster sandwich.  A meat lover’s heaven, an artery’s hell.  A Croque Madame on steroids.  Ham, juicy steak and a couple of sausages for good measure, stuffed between two slices of bread, topped with melting cheese, smothered in a rich spiced tomato and beer sauce, and crowned with a fried egg.  With restaurants and bars vying for the best Francesinha in Porto, I was keen to taste one of these beasts, but also slightly intimidated by the sight of it – it’s definitely one to share with a friend (or 3!).  It was a little mono-textured and bland for my liking, but it’s an experience not to be missed when spending a few days in the home of the francesinha.

 


Find it at most restaurants and bars in Porto, although I highly recommend Cervejaria Brasao.  Popular with tourists and locals alike, this brew house has a buzzing vibe and brews their own selection of beer to accompany high quality food – even the complimentary bread was noteworthy with a selection of unusual homemade breads and flavoured butters.  The Brasao IPA pairs particularly well with the francesinha, cutting through the richness and freshening things up.  There are 3 branches across the city.   


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fish Butty. Freshwater West, Wales

Image
September 2020 In the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is a beautiful long sandy beach and top surf spot.   Just up above the beach, there is a colourful little boat, serving up delicious, unusual and fresh from sea to plate fare.   Why not give weekend brunch a coastal twist with a fish butty?   Freshly caught each day, the fish could be anything from mackerel to plaice to coley.   But whatever the sea lucky dip offers up, it’s sure to be the freshest fish pan fried to order and served in a bun with the famous KelpChup (a ketchup type condiment made from locally foraged seaweed), homemade pickles and seaweed chilli sauce.   Then take a stroll down to the rocks to eat whilst being serenaded by the crashing waves, or get the wind in your hair as you walk across the cliff tops and explore the seaweed drying hut. Find Café Mor in the car park at Freshwater West beach.   They also serve bacon butties, meat and veggie black bean burgers, and crab and lobster ...
Read more

Coffee. Bologna, Italy

Image
October 2021 Despite Italy's reputation for excellent coffee, being a flat white sort of a girl, I'm generally not taken with Italian coffee, finding espressos too intense and cappuccinos too weak and frothy.  Pappare, in Bologna's historic centre, did come up trumps with an excellent cappuccino though.  Not only that, the display of croissants was particularly exciting, with white and dark chocolate stuffed charcoal croissants balanced by the nuttiness of sesame, alongside pistachio cream, and vegan dark chocolate and raspberry.  And there was definitely no shortage of filling.  One might be forgiven for thinking there was too much chocolate ganache stuffed in to my croissant as every bite caused another blob too ooze out, but really, can there ever be too much filling?!  They also offer hand brew coffee, as well as savoury pastries, sandwiches, and more substantial brunch/ lunch. Find Pappare on Via De' Giudei. Another coffee that really has to be tried once b...
Read more

Fesenjoon

Image
June 2020 I am a complete convert to pomegranate molasses.  Always one to substitute ingredients for what I have in store, on first glance at this recipe sent to me by a friend, my immediate reaction was pomegranate molasses?! Definite substitution.  However coincidentally, later that day, another recipe caught my eye in a magazine and scanning through the ingredients, I noticed that too called for pomegranate molasses.  It seemed this was something I needed to invest in. And I'm so glad I did! This Iranian dish is typically eaten of the longest night of the year to celebrate the coming of winter, so I was a full 6 months out.  But it sounded so delicious, there was no way I could wait another 6 months to try it.   Fesenjoon is made from 3 main ingredients - walnuts, chicken and pomegranate.  Ground walnuts are boiled for 2 hours before any other ingredient is added, eventually thickening to the texture of an Indian curry sauce and giving a ric...
Read more