{"id":1753,"date":"2017-01-28T20:03:17","date_gmt":"2017-01-28T20:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/?p=1753"},"modified":"2022-04-13T15:42:50","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T15:42:50","slug":"lingo-map-food-and-drink-in-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/lingo-map-food-and-drink-in-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Lingo Map: Food and Drink in Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday I arrived in Portugal for the second half of my year abroad! When I was in the UK over Christmas I was very busy, working and doing an essay for university, so now I\u2019m excited to just relax for a week in Porto before I start uni in a small city nearby called Braga. I haven\u2019t been to Portugal for about 14 years so it\u2019s all very new and different for me! One thing that I\u2019m uncertain about is the quality of my Portuguese. After having spent 5 months in Spain I can only think in Spanish (and of course my native English)!<\/p>\n

One thing that I didn\u2019t do very well when I was in Spain was the whole healthy eating thing, but I intend to do better here. It\u2019s not to lose weight or anything like that, it\u2019s just to feel better in myself and be healthier! So far I\u2019m off to a great start. When I arrived on Monday night I went to the supermarket close to my airbnb and bought some fresh vegetables to make some delicious mediterranean meals, and all I seem to be eating is Greek salad and kiwis.<\/p>\n

\"My
My first dinner in Portugal… not very Portuguese<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is very different to how I\u2019d been eating in England \u2013 I find that I eat healthier when I\u2019m on my own \u2013 because there my parents make lots of food to compensate for me being back from uni, where I think my mum reckons I don\u2019t eat at all.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday I went for a walk to O Est\u00e1dio do Drag\u00e3o where FC Porto play, and on the way I walked past so many Little Portuguese bakeries that I was so tempted to pop into, but I knew that if I did it would be difficult to leave! I love Portuguese pastries \u2013 in Cardiff my friends and I would often meet up in the one opposite the castle, which is a really nice place and actually quite authentic, filled with actual Portuguese people, Cardiff locals and tourists!<\/p>\n

I always thought that food was cheap in Spain, but to eat out here is even cheaper! I walked past a restaurant today and saw that the menu do dia was just \u20ac3,50 for 2 courses! That\u2019s unimaginable in Madrid! I can imagine that I\u2019ll be eating out a lot more here than I ever have done in my life if it\u2019s that cheap!<\/p>\n

The people who own the house that I\u2019m staying in are very lovely, and a couple of nights ago they invited me to have dinner with them, but I\u2019d already eaten so I declined. In Spain I was friends with a lot of locals, who could guide me in the direction of an authentic dish, but I guess the same thing will happen here with time! When I was in Cardiff my Portuguese language teacher told me that in Portugal, or especially in the north of the country where I am, they don\u2019t really stick so much to the mediterranean diet, but the atlantic diet, and I don\u2019t even know what that\u2019s about. I have so much to learn about Portugal!<\/p>\n

After going for a long afternoon stroll on Tuesday, I ended up inside a bakery on the hunt for a baguette. I also thought that, while I was there, I may as well get a famous pastel de nata, (which I guess is like the portuguse version of an egg custard tart, but don\u2019t tell them that) but they\u2019d run out of baguettes and Pasteis de nata so I left with a little bread roll (which really did not hit the spot) and something that the lady in the bakery had suggested instead of a pastel de nata, and was kind of like a cross between a custard tart and a flan, and definitely not what I was expecting.<\/p>\n

\"NOT
NOT a pastel de nata, but still very good<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One thing that Portugal is famous for (apparently, I didn\u2019t know this) is its wine. Different regions have different types of wine, and yesterday I tried a wine from the Douro region, where Porto is. Beer is also a pretty big deal here, and they have two large national beers \u2013 Super Bock and Sagres, one for the south and another for the north. As I\u2019m not really a beer drinker, I think I\u2019ll stick to the good old American classic \u2013 Coca Cola.<\/p>\n

\"I'm
I’m trying to be sophisticated and I think it’s working. (Please drink responsibly)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the past two days I\u2019ve been eating out a bit more and have even had the chance to eat a few Portuguese specialities. The first thing I tried was a francesinha. These are typical in Porto and are actually very hard to explain. It\u2019s a bit like a toastie I guess, but with beef and Portuguse sausage on the inside and cheese on the top, then with a \u201cspicy\u201d sauce poured over the top. It sounds a bit strange, but I promise it tasted great!<\/p>\n

\"Uma
Uma Francesinha<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For breakfast today I went to a caf\u00e9 and FINALLY had a pastel de nata! It was so tasty, and I felt very authentic, joining the locals for a breakfast. Some of the people in the caf\u00e9 were even drinking wine, but I didn\u2019t go for that level of authentiity at 11 in the morning!<\/p>\n

\"Finally!
Finally! A real pastel de nata!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I really do need to get out there and try more Portuguese specialties, despite my efforts so far! I brought with me a recipe book that I\u2019ve made up with all of my favourite recipies that I\u2019ve found in other recipe books or that I\u2019ve accumulated from people over the years. I do have a couple of Portuguese recipes in there that I found, but I\u2019m yet to try them out. I feel like this is definitely the perfect place to do it though! And hopefully my hosts here in Porto can give me some ideas of things to cook as well! I\u2019m also currently on the search for a more permanent flat and the lady that I\u2019m talking to about a flat is older, and normally older ladies have some great authentic, family recipes that have been passed down the generations, so I\u2019m looking forward to improving my skills in the kitchen over the next 5 months!<\/p>\n

\"Pretty
Pretty Porto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Monday I arrived in Portugal for the second half of my year abroad! When I was in the UK over Christmas I was very busy, working and doing an […]","protected":false},"author":1134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[268],"tags":[249,90],"class_list":["post-1753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","tag-europe","tag-studying"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4QQbz-sh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3133,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/lingomap-blog-los-festivales-y-las-celebraciones-de-espana\/","url_meta":{"origin":1753,"position":0},"title":"LingoMap Blog: Los festivales y las celebraciones de Espa\u00f1a","author":"Lewis Hacker","date":"March 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a1Hola a todos! \u00bfQu\u00e9 tal? The theme of this month\u2019s blog is Spanish festivals and celebrations, and in this blog post I\u2019m going to talk about the two that I\u2019ve experienced since I\u2019ve arrived in Spain. Cuando llegu\u00e9 a Salamanca no hab\u00eda sido a un festival espa\u00f1ol, pero ahora he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2018\/03\/Carnaval-del-Toro-450x281.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2307,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/lingo-map-careers-and-employability\/","url_meta":{"origin":1753,"position":1},"title":"Lingo Map: Careers and Employability","author":"Molly Timmons","date":"June 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s official. My year abroad is (pretty much) officially over. I\u2019ve had the most amazing year of my life and now it\u2019s time to get back to the normality (and scary prospect of final year) in Britain. I was in the UK for just under two weeks after getting back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/06\/IMG-20170527-WA0050-338x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2072,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/lingo-map-portuguese-national-holidays-and-local-areas-of-interest\/","url_meta":{"origin":1753,"position":2},"title":"Lingo Map: Portuguese National Holidays and Local Areas of Interest","author":"Molly Timmons","date":"April 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I am now halfway through my time here in Portugal! The term seems to have gone so quickly and my exams are now fast approaching, but that hasn\u2019t stopped me from doing a bit of tourism in the north of Portugal. Last week I got back from spending the Easter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The festive street decorations","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/04\/jesus-on-the-streets-253x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1641,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/health-and-fitness-trying-my-hardest-to-stay-healthy-in-spain\/","url_meta":{"origin":1753,"position":3},"title":"Health and Fitness – Trying my hardest to stay healthy in Spain","author":"Molly Timmons","date":"December 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This first half of my year abroad has been the best time of my life (so far!), but of course it has had its challenges. I've not experienced culture shock so much, which is something that people always went on about before we came abroad. This might have been due\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2186,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/lingo-map-school-and-college-life-my-university-experience-in-portugal\/","url_meta":{"origin":1753,"position":4},"title":"Lingo Map- School and College Life: My University Experience in Portugal","author":"Molly Timmons","date":"May 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I can\u2019t believe how quickly my time here has gone! In 10 days, I will be back in the UK and my entire year abroad will be over! I have friends who have already gone home, and it\u2019s scary how fast my time here is ending! Of course, I\u2019m looking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG-20170525-WA0019","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/05\/IMG-20170525-WA0019-450x338.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2239,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/nextsteps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1753,"position":5},"title":"So, what’s next?","author":"Liam Barrett","date":"June 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"And we\u2019re done! As of 2nd June 2017, I have finished my year abroad. Having first left for Belgium on 25th August 2017, I have spent a little over nine months and two weeks living abroad. Undoubtedly, the Year abroad is a worthwhile experience, regardless of where you do it,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/06\/IMG_3095-450x338.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1753"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2507,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions\/2507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}