Francesinha

Saturday, 16 February 2013

      Francesinha is a traditional portuguese dish, created around the sixties in Porto.  It is an adaptation of a french sandwich, croque-monsieur, made by Daniel da Silva.  Daniel da Silva worked in France for a while and when he got back he created this tempting dish that gained a lot of popularity.

      Francesinha is a sandwich with steak, ham and different kinds of sausage covered with cheese and dipped in a beer based sauce.  This sandwich is often served with chips and beer.  The quality of the Francesinha depends on the quality of the meats used and on the sauce.  The sauce always has beer but the other ingredients are usually kept as a secret in order to preserve the specialty of the cook.  Generally the Francesinha sauce presents a red orange coloring and it may be more or less spicy.
 

      This dish began to be a snack for single man and girls were not seen eating it.  Later Francesinha became a dish served at dinner or at lunch and turned to be a dish available in almost every part of the country.

       In 2011 the website Aol Travel elected Francesinha one of the top ten sandwiches in the world.   In Canelas there are many places where we can eat great Francesinhas and since 2010 there is an annual festival where restaurants are able to presente their Francesinhas.

    

    For me the place that has the greatest Francesinhas is Capa Negra in Campo Alegre, Porto.

   Although I may try the Verso em Pedra challenge. If one is able to eat a Mega Francesinha (six francesinhas) in one hour without leaving the table, the restaurant will offer an electric guitar.   Until now there are no winners I may try my luck one of these days. 

 

Diana Barros