SUN AND SIGHTS IN LISBON

Sun and Sights in Lisbon
Culinary Highlights
1
Arroz de Marisco
This king of Portuguese rice dishes is more moist
than a paella and less sticky than a risotto. It should
contain shellfish, in the shell for flavour (lobster claws,
pieces of spider crab, prawns, clams and cockles), as
well as a streak of chilli and a liberal sprinkling of fresh
coriander. Many restaurants cook it once a week and
serve it in enormous portions.
2 Açorda
Originally a poor man’s
soup from the Alentejo,
Açorda was simply water
flavoured with garlic and oil,
and thickened with a slice of
yesterday’s bread and an
egg. Most restaurants now
do a more sophisticated
version in which the soup is
a sort of purée, studded with
seafood (marisco) or served with small fillets of
deep-fried fish. Pap’Açorda makes one of the best.
3 Bacalhau
Foreign visitors may find it strange that the
Portuguese have such a passion for salted dried cod,
fished in distant seas, when they have such a delectable
fresh selection much closer at hand. The explanation
involves history, economics, Salazar and habit. Small
croquettes of bacalhau and mashed potatoes, pastéis
de bacalhau, are a good introduction; then you are ready
to sample some of the remaining 364 ways of preparing
bacalhau.
4
Frango à Piri-piri
Many a visitor’s fondest food memory of Portugal,
this is simply grilled chicken served with chilli oil (piri-piri
is the Portuguese-African term for chilli). The simplicity
is deceptive, though: in the best versions of the dish,
the chicken has been treated to a thorough marinade
before grilling.
5
Ameijoas à Bulhão Pato
All truly great dishes combine just a few flavours,
with a minimum of fuss. This one is a prime example:
ameijoa clams cooked briefly in their own juices, olive
oil and plenty of whole, crushed garlic cloves, and served
with coriander and lemon wedges. Bread is the only
accompaniment.
Fresh Fish
Go to a good
fishmonger and you will be
presented with an
encyclopedic choice of fish,
from bass and bream to John
Dory, eel, skate and parrot
fish. Good restaurants for sampling some of these
include Bica do Sapato and Porto de Santa Maria .
7
Smoked and Cured Ham and Meats
Presunto is the Portuguese name for cured ham.
Usually dried in salt, it is sometimes also smoked, and
often rolled in bright orange paprika powder. Enchidos
is the collective term for a bewildering but rewarding
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array of sausages and salamis. These are often heavily
smoked and spiced.
8
Pastéis de Nata
Small custard tarts are a staple of Lisbon cafés,
taken on the run with a piercing bica, the city’s term for
espresso. Sometimes sprinkled with cinnamon and
always reassuringly gooey, they are made to the original
recipe at the Antiga Confeitaria in Belém . All others are
imitations, so they say.
9 Soups
Soup in Portugal is the traditional meal opener, and
is often made with vegetables (though the stock will
almost invariably be chicken, with bits of smoked
sausage, chouriço, added as spice). The most famous is
caldo verde, made with the kale that grows in the north
– shredded in a special machine – and potato, and spiced
with chouriço. One of the richest is sopa da pedra (stone
soup), containing a little bit of everything (and a stone,
according to the legend).
10 Picanha
Picanha was originally a Brazilian cut of rump steak,
grilled whole and served in thin slices with black-bean
stew and other accompaniments. However, it has
become so popular that it is now made with local cuts
of beef and served in many non-Brazilian restaurants. It
is very flavourful, if not always tender meat.
Restaurants
1 Eleven
A Modernist window
box at the top of Parque
Eduardo VII is the setting for
Lisbon’s most sophisticated
contemporary restaurant.
Joachim Koerper and his
team have already bagged a Michelin star for the
meticulously prepared food; he is aiming for a second.
➤ Rua Marquês da Fronteira, Jardim Amália Rodrigues
• Map E2 • 21 386 22 11 • Closed Sun, Mon • €€€€€
Bica do Sapato
Size and experience
keep Bica do Sapato ahead
of newer contemporary
restaurants in Lisbon.
Downstairs there is a bar and a dining room; upstairs a
sushi restaurant. Fish is the thing here – but not the usual
grilled versions served with potatoes.
➤ Avenida Infante Dom Henrique/Cais da Pedra,
Armazém B • Map R3 • 21 881 03 20 • Closed Mon L
& D; Tue L • €€€€
3
Terreiro do Paço
The raison d’être of this restaurant is to showcase
the food and produce of Portugal – not by laying on
extravagant buffets or selling over-packaged samples,
but by serving up imaginative versions of classic
Portuguese dishes, all made with certified Portuguese
ingredients, and accompanied by Portuguese wines.
➤ Lisboa Welcome Center, Praça do Comércio • Map
M6 • 21 031 28 50 • €€€€€
2
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Dining in Lisbon