Portuguese Cuisine

Portuguese cuisine comprises the traditions and practices of cooking in Portugal, with documented roots reaching back to a sixteenth century manuscript, the Livro de Cozinha da Infanta Dona Maria, and reflecting Atlantic and Celtic influences alongside French and Mediterranean elements. Portugal's Age of Discovery and its spice trade profoundly shaped the cuisine, introducing seasonings gathered from Asia, Africa and the Americas, among them piri piri peppers, saffron, paprika, cinnamon and nutmeg, into both savory and sweet dishes. The cooking favors simplicity and fresh, local ingredients, relies on olive oil as its foundational fat, and uses garlic, onion and herbs such as parsley, oregano and thyme throughout. Seafood is central, above all dried salted cod known as bacalhau, alongside pork, beef and poultry, rice, potatoes and breads such as broa, and signature dishes include caldo verde, a kale soup, cozido a portuguesa, a mixed meat stew, and pastel de nata, a custard tart.