On your Lisbon vacation, one of the most pleasurable things will be your experience of Portuguese food and drink. The locals love their food and enjoy variety in food. While the specialty is seafood prepared in different ways to produce various kinds of dishes, vegetable sand fruits are also used in plenty. Soups are a must, especially caldo verde or soup made of cabbage and potatoes. The Lisboates have a sweet tooth and a lot of wine flows during meal times.
Lisbon Cuisine
When you are out to enjoy some fine Lisbon dining, almost all Lisbon restaurants will offer you bread, butter and some cheese. The exciting thing is, you pay just for what you eat. If you don’t touch it, don’t pay. The best option is to go in for the daily specials at the restaurant. You will also pleasantly surprised to find that a couple of euros will make your waiter happy.
You might even think that the food in Lisbon restaurants is similar to Spanish food, but it is really very different. Portuguese food uses simple ingredients very creatively to come up with several dishes. Depending on what is available in the area, you will be served a combination of seafood, tomato, spices and very tasty soups, home made bread, cheese, etc., all of which make for a sumptuous meal. Cascais has the largest fish market in the country. Sausages and cheese are also widely used in Lisbon cuisine. You will also enjoy a variety of sweets made predominantly of almonds and figs, thanks to the Moorish influence. You will find several influences to the Lisbon food. Plenty of spices are used with the influence of Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India in the 16th century. A spice called Peri Peri was transplanted from Brazil is widely used in the preparation of seafood. Consequently, Portuguese food is full of flavor and quite distinct from the rest of the Mediterranean. Oporto specializes in recipes made of Cod.
During your Lisbon travel, sample huge range of desserts, cakes and pastries. Most Lisbon restaurants will serve you rich chocolate mousse and arroz doce or rice pudding flavored with lemon and cinnamon. What you must not miss is the variety of cakes. The Antiga Confeitaria de Belém serves the legendary custard tarts or the pastéis de nata, which is a big Lisbon attraction. Sintra near Lisbon offers its traditional cheese tart, which you can buy, beautifully packed.
In the course of your Lisbon sightseeing trip, you will see both informal and stylish eateries catering to all kinds of budgets that you can stop by.
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