A fishy experience: bacalhau and sardines in Portugal

 Our fam LOVES seafood. So it was such a delight to be able to visit Portugal and eat seafood in practically every meal!

 

Grilled Sardines @Restaurant Farrol

Pastel de Bacalhau at Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau—we first saw this store in Sao Jorge castle. I felt it was such a tourist trap, touting “Portugal Experience” and even offering a combo of Pastel de Bacalhau with Port wine. The prices are also on the expensive side at over Eur5 each. But after seeing the third branch and feeling like I have yet to try an amazing Pastel (called Bolinhos in the North) de Bacalhau, we gave in and got some. And boy, was I glad we did! We bit into the warm and creamy codfish cake with Queijo da Serra in the centre and it was just utterly delicious! Bacalhau (dried, salted cod) is a staple in Portuguese diet from its history of exploration, using salt to preserve the codfish caught during long naval voyages. Interestingly, cod is not native to the coastline of Portugal. The Serra de Estrella cheese from the mountains of Serra da Estrela region was soft and rich and has a protected designation of origin in the EU (like Port). And rightly so, given the rigorous process to make this from sheep’s milk. Whether or not you have the opportunity to try other Pastel de Bacalhau from local bakeries (which we did), I recommend you give this one a try.

made fresh in house Pastel de Bacalhau @Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau

Pasteis de Bacalhau at Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau

 

Bacalhau com Natas (salted cod with cream)—a traditional Portuguese dish, Bacalhau com Natas is wonderful comfort food. We tried this at Churrasqueria Lebre, a cafeteria-style joint at Fatima. While there were some big fishbones to watch out for, the dish was very tasty. The fish was moist with chunky flakes easily falling off with the fork. The cream was a nice contrast to the saltiness of the cod. Prices were very reasonable at Lebre and as it is cafeteria-style, it made for fast dining, which is especially important if you have a bus to catch at the nearby station.

Bacalhau com Natas @Churrasqueria Lebre

 Sardines—depending on which reference you trust, Sardines can very well be Portugal’s national fish. It is, after all, and unlike cod, fished (in abundance, so they say) off the shores of Portugal. Canned or tinned sardines are available not just in grocery stores. You can find them at stores selling only sardines. One of the fun places we got some sardines was The Fantastic World of Portuguese Sardines (Mundo Fantástico Da Sardinha Portuguesa). There was one right at the Lisbon airport but went to the one in Baixa. They showcase sardines in fun, colourful tins. They feature tins with the year (from 1916 to present) and includes some interesting trivia related to that particular year—a great souvenir. The store itself was a fun place to explore, feeling like a carnival with vibrant staff on hand to assist. There was a variety of flavours (spicy, tomato, olive oil, etc) and even other seafood such as shrimp, octopus and cod.

tinned seafood from Mundo Fantástico Da Sardinha Portuguesa

Mundo Fantástico Da Sardinha Portuguesa

 Grilled sardines—of course we had to try grilled sardines instead of just the tinned ones. We had some at Restaurant Farrol in Alfama. It was a humble dish, nothing pretentious, just the plain, grilled sardines. It had too many tiny bones (that I couldn’t just swallow) so I didn’t quite enjoy it as other meatier fish.

grilled sardines

 

While this is supposed to be about fish, I do have to mention octopus. We usually have octopus either in Takoyaki form or grilled from frozen. Imagine what a delight it was to have it fresh, grilled. Utterly delicious. Cooked well, the octopus was not rubbery at all, but deliciously tender to the bite. We had grilled octopus, octopus salad and even octopus rice from various places such O Corrido in Alfama. Some are tastier than others, and servings vary, of course (the one at Gelo in Baixa was half onions) but we enjoyed all our octopus meals.

grilled octopus @O Corride

octopus rice @Restaurant Farrol

 

I did have to try the bifana (pork sandwich) and, of course, Francesinha. I cannot yet abandon my love for red meat, but I will take seafood any day in a heartbeat.