Tag: sandwich

Francesinha: the very rich Porto sandwich – Italian Cuisine

The francesinha, a rich sandwich made from meat, is part of the Portuguese gastronomic culture and is a traditional dish, easy to prepare and with many variations (and calories)

Except for those who follow a diet without meat and animal derivatives, you cannot visit the enchanting city of Port without being tempted by francesinha, a local gastronomic specialty of international renown. It is a rich sandwich, filled with various types of meat, sauce, cheese and other ingredients, which was invented in the 60s and which is part of traditional cuisine, loved by everyone and sometimes revisited with modern and original variations. The ease of preparation and availability of the ingredients, all popular and affordable, combined with the full-bodied and substantial result, make francesinha a unique and palatable dish.

Francesinha, the most delicious sandwich in Europe

If you thought that an American style multilayer hamburger or a very Italian sandwich filled with sliced cold cuts were the ultimate culinary transgression in sandwiches, you should think again. Hardly, in Europe, one can find a richer, more elaborate and delicious recipe than the Portuguese francesinha. This caloric sandwich, with a raw taste and a high number of ingredients, is a dish not to be missed, to try at least once in a lifetime in one of the many restaurants and clubs that serve it in Porto. It was precisely in this city invented in the 60s by the emigrant Daniel da Silva, who, after having lived in France and Belgium, tried his hand at a Portuguese version of the French grilled sandwich known as Croque Monsieur, stuffed with ham and cheese.

Classic recipe and variants

The classic recipe consists of a dish that is anything but light and very tasty, consisting of two slices of grilled bread filled with beef steaks, fresh Portuguese sausages, linguiça (traditional spicy sausage, similar to chorizo), fiambre (cooked pork ham), all covered with melted cheese and one sauce based on beer and tomato, and baked in a terracotta bowl. Most of the ingredients contained in the francesinha are very popular types of meat in Portugal, each characterized by a different flavor and level of flavor and spiciness, as well as by a different consistency. Of course it is also possible to use different sliced meats, sausages or meat, also based on what you have available. Usually the meat is cooked in a pan in butter or margarine.

If these condiments alone were not already sufficiently fatty and caloric, as well as the thick layer of sliced cheese, even more surprising is the preparation of rich sauce tomato sauce with which the sandwich is covered before being baked. For this sauce, which can be purchased ready-made in many Portuguese supermarkets, there is no standard recipe, just a large number variants. In addition to garlic base, onion, butter or margarine, tomato sauce and ale, you can for example add various types of meat (like bacon), a mix of instant soup and chicken broth, corn starch, bay leaves, dry Port wine, brandy, piri piri or hot pepper. The preparation is as simple, fun and customizable as the taste of the final result is incredibly complex.

In addition to the numerous ingredients and layers already mentioned, francesinha is sometimes served also with aaddition of fried egg and a bed of fries, and accompanied by a mug of beer. In short, rather than a dish, this sandwich represents the identity of the country, but also a real gastronomic challenge of resistance.

Photo: francesinha panino Portugese_Flickr_iNelsonRocha.jpg
Photo: Francesinha Portuguese Sandwich variant_adactio_Flickr.jpg

Incoming search terms:

gordon ramsay francheschinha recipe

Francesinha: the very rich Porto sandwich – Italian Cuisine

The francesinha, a rich sandwich made from meat, is part of the Portuguese gastronomic culture and is a traditional dish, easy to prepare and with many variations (and calories)

Francesinha, the most delicious sandwich in Europe

Classic recipe and variants

Photo: francesinha panino Portugese_Flickr_iNelsonRocha.jpg
Photo: Francesinha Portuguese Sandwich variant_adactio_Flickr.jpg

Cutlets in the Marche sandwich – Italian Cuisine

Once at the edge of the roads of the province of Ancona, especially in the summer season, it was easy to find vans with a small grill next to them covered with trunks. And from the return from the beach it was customary for many to stop for a substantial snack. Today they have practically disappeared, but the sandwich with the ribs is still there. Here's where to go to eat it and rediscover the smells and flavors of the past

Are you traveling on the highway, but you cannot give up the temptation to stop and enjoy the local gastronomic products? Well, then take note: exit Ancona Nord of the Adriatic A14 motorway and navigator pointed to La Chiusa, in the municipality of Agugliano. Then a thick cloud of smoke will guide you and spread the aroma of the air into the air spare ribs.
What are? Even if you opened the dictionary, you will not find the real definition of what since the seventies is the outdoor snack of the first truck driver and then of the families.

What are the ribs

They are the gut of the small intestine of the dairy calf (which has never tasted the herb), very peppery, spicy and perfectly grilled. You will say: the pajata. Yes, but in Rome. In the province of Ancona, however, this dish never ends in the sauce: it becomes the stuffing of the rustic sandwich that you find only in the countryside or along busy roads. Although retailers are less and less. In fact, since 2002, with the case of the "mad cow", this gastronomic habit has been rapidly decreasing, although the ribs in that period came from Argentina. Today, however, the supply chain is mostly Italian and, although it is not at the same level as it used to be, trimmings have returned to great, even if the way of eating them has changed. No more reinforced snacks, but even outdoor meals, also because they are low cost. And since sauces and sauces do not enter the sandwich, the secret to savoring them at their best is that they are hot and accompanied by a good red wine (preferably the scented Lacrima di Morro d’Alba).

Don't call it street food

Among the few remaining kiosks to offer this dish is the "river" refreshment of Mario and Anna. Mario grids the check marks from 1999 to Chiusa. It was opened by his father "Fiorindo" together with his wife Giovanna Tartabini in 1984. They became a kind of culinary institution. The way was crossed by trucks and the crowded parking lot. Then a new road has isolated this Spartan restaurant, which today has become a destination for families. Plenty of outdoor space, where you can sit on small concrete tables shaped like a mushroom. You enter the room passing under the neon sign that is always on and the grill seems to roar. Alongside, the river flows and the river air mixes with that most characteristic of refreshment. Here in the seventies there were dance halls, those with rows of lights hanging from trees. A local atmosphere in a gypsy style. The most curious thing is that the passion for trimming probably derives from a sort of childhood imprinting. Children may not appreciate them right away, but be sure that one day that acrid smell will come back to them, stimulating the appetite and the curiosity to taste them once again. And it will become one of your fixed stops when you are around: your proustiana madeleine.