As part of an official promotion program of a friendly country, in which the seven most significant monuments and the seven best natural sites had previously been chosen by public vote, Portugal has voted the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Cuisine.
The plan consisted of two phases: the first one in which the nomination of 70 dishes was carried out, which subsequently remained in a selection of 21 proposals and the grand finale in which, after a vote in which nearly 900,000 people participated, The following dishes were chosen as the seven wonders of Portuguese cuisine, each corresponding to a different category such as entrees, soups, seafood, fish, meat, game, and pastries:
Alheira de Mirandela
Alheira is a typical sausage of Portuguese cuisine whose main ingredients are minced meat - pork and poultry - with bacon, bread, oil, garlic, and paprika. Very popular in the regions of Trás-os-Montes, although many people say that the dish is originally from Mirandela.
Cheese from the Sierra de la Estrella
Better known as Queijo da Serra (cheese from the mountains), it is a cheese - Designation of Origin - from the Serra da Estrela region, prepared under strict rules of composition. Its appearance is very buttery and oily texture, but with a mild and slightly acidic aroma and flavor.
Green soup
One of the national dishes of Portugal, much appreciated especially in the former province of Minho). It is a soup made from a mashed potato accompanied by strips of cabbage very similar to Galician cabbage and that provides the characteristic green color, some garlic, olive oil and all lightly seasoned.
Shellfish rice
It is a broth rice with the more or less traditional sofrito ingredients - garlic, pepper, onion, tomato and in this case coriander - to which as main ingredients basically clams and prawns are added.
Sardinha Asada
Very fresh sardines, often freshly caught, that are prepared grilled directly on the grill. A dish that is part of many of the traditional coastal festivals.
Piglet gives Bairrada. Leitao a Bairrada is a roast suckling pig, one of the best known regional dishes, much appreciated in the Bairrada valley region and the greatest gastronomic richness in the region. For its preparation, the pork is marinated with a paste of salt and pepper, and roasted in a wooden fire, open, skewered on a skewer.
Belém cake
Belém cakes are one of the most characteristic specialties of Portuguese cuisine. They are cream pancakes made according to a secret recipe that has not been disclosed in almost two hundred years and, supposedly, only three people in the world know. Both pasta and cream begin to be made behind closed doors, in the so-called "office of secrecy" (office do segredo), in a process that lasts two days.
