Neven Maguire is back with a brand new six part series of his popular Food Trails programmes, and this year his travels take him from Faro in the South of Portugal to the Douro Valley in the North of the country.
Programme five: Porto
Porto is a spectacular city situated on the banks of the River Douro, and its historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Porto is also renowned for its traditional Street food and Neven joins André Apolinário from Taste Porto Food Tours for a food walking tour and tasting. The tour begins at a typical Porto delicatessen to sample Portuguese charcuterie and cheese.
The next stop is Taxca, a restaurant famous for its Petiscos,the Portuguese version of tapas. Here André introduces Neven to two staples of Porto cuisine – air dried ham sandwiches and Pataniscas or salt codfish fritters. Perhaps the most iconic Porto street food is the Francesinha, a large and delicious sandwich comprising grilled rump steak, three types of cured meat, and cheese topped with a fried egg and covered in a secret sauce. The secret sauce is unique to every café that sells Francesinhas.
Finally, Neven and André try another classic Porto snack, the Cachorrinho which is a toasted hotdog made with spicy sausage, cheese, crusty bread and a dash of Piri Piri sauce.
Porto is also internationally acclaimed for the production of Port, a type of fortified wine. One of the leading Port producers is Graham’s Port where Neven meets Head Winemaker Charles Symington whose family have been involved in making Port since 1652. Charles shows Neven around the barrel room and explains how Port is created by adding brandy to wine during the fermentation process. Neven is then treated to a tasting of a vintage Port (aged in a bottle), and a “tawny” Port (aged in a barrel).Some of the most attractive sights in Porto are the decorative tiles or Azulejos, which cover the facades of buildings. There are thought to be at least 1,000 different tile patterns throughout Porto, which were traditionally hand-painted. Neven visits Os Azulejos Do Porto where he meets Alba Plaza and Marisa Ferreira who are documenting all the tile patterns in the city and continuing the craft of making Azulejos by hand. Neven learns about Porto’s tile painting heritage and also paints his own Azulejo.Inspired by the importance of pork in Portuguese cuisine and his trip to Porto, Neven’s own recipe this week is Braised Pork Cheeks with Fragrant Bulgur Wheat .
Neven’s Portuguese Food Trails is produced and directed by David Hare for InproductionTV and is sponsored by FLOGAS
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