Gastronomy of Pinhel

 Time to talk about food in Pinhel

    Of course, we can't talk about any city of Portugal without talking about its gastronomy.

    All good things in life begin with food. Either savory or sweet, we, humans, need to eat to keep moving. And, when you get to the interior of Portugal, mostly up from the river Tejo, you need warm, comforting food to keep you warm through the winter months because it is too cold to go out. (side note: last time I was in Pinhel, I had to keep my car warm with a blanket!!!, no kinding)

    This region has a lot of very delicious dishes and pastries. But the most known delicacy in this region is Serra da Estrela's cheese.

    Made by Sheeps' milk, it is the most known cheese from Portugal, It is known to be smelly, soft, you can spread it on toasts. It is delicious.

    Some other delicacies that you need to taste in this area are grilled boar with garlic and olive oil, roasted lamb with potatoes, the sausages, typical of this region, and one in particular - "Bucho", the pig's bladder, filled with other parts of that same pig like ribs, ear, meat already marinated and cooked; it is, then, left to dry as all sausages. After that, you must cook it in an iron pan, wrapped with a linen cloth for about 3 hours. It is served with boiled potatos and "grelos à pobre" (pauper geens - greens boiled with potatos and then stir fried in olive oil).

    Another dish that is very goog in this region is Lagarada, roasted cod covered with hot olive oil and garlic.You just need to search very well the right place to eat these exquisite dishes.

    Also, as many regions in Portugal, the pastries are present at the table in this area. 

       

    You have Coscorões (a puffed fried pastry covered with sugar and cinnamon), Sweet Rice, and other sweets that agree with the most critical of the bunch.  

    There is also Cavacas de Pinhel, a conventual pastry made with flour, vanilla, vegetable fat, eggs and sugar. They are put in cupcake pans and cooked in the oven. After rising, they take the sape of a flower and are smeared with eggwhites with pastry sugar.

 

Is your mouth already watering?

    You can help the food go down with the wine from this region.

    Pinhel was named one of the most rich regions in wine. You have red wine (grape castes of Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacional) and white wine (grape castes Syra). These wines have won some international awards against others already well-known in the world.

 

Life is good, but wine is better. (Fernando Pessoa)

    This is it for now.

    Next time, I will tell you how to get there. where to stay, what to visit and where to eat.

    See you next time!!!