Of course I love cycling, discover new places, see wonderful landscapes, feel the wind, feel free, do exercise and meet people from all over the world, but besides that I also really enjoy good meals.
Almost everyone knows Portugal is a country with a fantastic climate, very sunny, beautiful beaches, history, monuments, safe and have friendly people. Furthermore, it’s also a country where you can have very good meals, good food and good wine.
In that sense, because I like good meals, because I know that many of those who visit us also like it, because in Portugal this is evidence and because the choice is very varied, here in this blog a section “Gastronomic Experience” was created.
In this section, probably the most delicious on this web site, I have already made a post about Pasteis de Belém, about the traditional Queijadas de Sintra and about Bifanas. I’ll write about many more things, the Cod, the Octopus, the Fish, the Seafood, the Chicken with Piri-Piri, etc., and also about some restaurants.
Today is the day to write about one of my favorite dishes, the which the vast majority of Portuguese also love, but which is overlooked in many tourist guides - Leitão Assado - roasted piglet.
This dish, made with a small suckling pig (shouldn’t weigh more than 8 kg) stuffed on a skewer and with its own seasoning (based on salt and pepper) is made in a bread oven. It takes about 2 hours to bake, the meat is wonderful and the skin has to be very crispy.
This dish is very popular in two regions - one Negrais, near Sintra and Bairrada, on the road between Lisbon and Porto, near the Coimbra City.
While in Negrais is placed open and flat in the oven, Bairrada's is sewn with a thread and closed before going to the oven. This is the biggest difference between the both.
To anyone who travels between Lisbon and Porto I recommend that you stop for lunch, dinner, or just have a sandwich of this precious recipe in Bairrada, I always do it.
Bairrada Piglet (Leitão) was considered one of the 7 Gastronomic Wonders of Portugal, winning the meat category, so ...
This dish that the Portuguese (me too) like a lot, it isn’t, like almost all others, a traditional dish from Lisbon, but there are two places where I usually go to eat a Roasted Piglet sandwich, one in the Lisbon Center - Nova Pombalina and another in the Belem - O Afonso dos Leitões.
To accompany the Piglet, you should order fresh sparkling wine.
