There’s another meal available?
If you know me at all, you know I love to eat. After breakfast I’m thinking about lunch, and it goes without saying that after lunch I’m thinking about dinner. I’d rather eat than do almost anything, especially when I’m in a new place. (So much to eat – so little time.)
So you can image my delight when I recently learned that in Portugal there is a fourth meal! It’s called lanche (pronounced LAN-cheh). Although lanche comes from the English word “lunch”, it translates in Portuguese to “snack”.
The lanche tides you over from your almoço (lunch) that happens between 12:30 and 2:00 until your jantar (dinner) that is usually eaten after 8:00pm and even later on weekends.
Lanche is sometimes compared to an English afternoon tea. They are similar – both are small meals of sweets and savories that you share with family or friends. Gail At Large, a fellow blogger, says
“…these snacks come in all shapes and sizes, savoury and sweet: bite-sized deep-fried tidbits to small sandwiches to baked goods like pastries and small cakes. Lanche is also the generic name of a snack sandwich with thinly-sliced meat and cheese baked into it.”
Mike and I regularly pick up these sandwiches. They are baked and wrapped in paper and can be thrown into a backpack and eaten whenever the mood strikes – no refrigeration necessary.
Getting the supplies for our lanche
Earlier this week we headed out to two of our favorite padarias (bakeries) to select an array of lanche tidbits. It would be an understatement to say that I lost my mind looking at all the goodies. I wanted one of everything!
Our first stop was Confeitaria Nova Real . It was bursting at the seams with everything a food addict could want. There is always a line of people waiting to buy things. You take a number from a ticket dispenser at the front door and then step inside to peruse the array of delicious things in their balcão (counter).
Image source: confeiterianovareal.pt
We picked up two mini quiches, two bolinhos de bacalhau (deep-fried codfish fritters), a gorgeous almond tart, two empada de vitela minis (savory puff pastries stuffed with veal), and a small cheesecake topped with berries. Oh, and also two small buns – pão bijus – to make a special sandwich at home. Cost: €8,30, about $9.35.
The second padaria was Doce Alto. We picked up one of their generic lanche sandwiches. Cost: €1,70, about $1.93. (We could have bought the sandwich at Nova Real, but Mike has a crush on the women who work at Doce Alto.)
Image source: docealto.pt
A 15th Century Sandwich
I bought the pão bijus to make a small marinated pork sandwich, called a bifana, to add to our lanche. The origin of this Portuguese sandwich is not known, but most conclude that it came about during the 15th or 16th centuries. Portuguese explorers introduced the world to red pepper about this time and it became part of the cuisine here. The bifana makes good use of the pepper.
Here’s the recipe.
The Portuguese Bifana Sandwich
Source: Adapted from the We Travel Portugal blog
Servings: 4
Mary’s Comments
The bifana is a traditional Portuguese sandwich made with pork that is marinated in garlic, white wine and some spices, then fried and served on a crusty bun. When I made them, I added cooked onions for additional flavor. I also cut the pork into small pieces after cooking it.
We only ate two of the four sandwiches. Store the pork and sauce in separate containers and reheat for another meal.
Ingredients
For the Sandwiches:
- 4 thin pork cutlets 300g or 3/4 lb. – In Portugal pork cutlets for bifanas are available at the supermarkets or your local butcher.
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- One large onion, thinly sliced
- 4 white crusty bread rolls, like carcaças or papo-seco in Portugal. Elsewhere purchase crusty rolls with soft centers.
- Dijon mustard
- Piri Piri sauce or sriracha
For the Marinade:
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 3 crushed garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 200ml dry white wine
- salt and black pepper to taste
Preparation:
Tenderize the pork cutlets. If purchasing regular pork chops flatten to about 1/4” with a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin.
Place the cutlets in a bowl. Season them with salt and pepper and then add the remaining marinade ingredients. Make sure that everything is in contact with the pork. Cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the fridge for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.
In a frying pan melt one tablespoon of butter. When melted, add sliced onions and cook gently for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent browning.
Put another large frying pan over medium heat and add the rest of the fat: butter and olive oil. Once the mixture is hot, gently place in the pork, keeping the marinade aside. You may be thinking that there is too much fat but don’t worry, the idea here is to slowly ‘confit’ the pork instead of frying it like you would normally do with a steak.
Once the oils start bubbling (about 5-8 minutes) flip the pork and add to the frying pan its marinade, including the garlic.
Occasionally stir and flip the pork until the garlic cloves are cooked (it will become a puree when you squeeze it with a fork). Let the sauce reduce a little bit more.
Remove cutlets to a cutting board. Cut the cutlets into small pieces.
Mash garlic into the remaining sauce.
Putting The Sandwich Together
Cut rolls in half and toast under a broiler until the soft sides are lightly brown.
Put two tablespoons of the sauce on the top and the bottom of the toasted bread. Add mustard to taste.
Top the bottom bun with the chopped cutlet.
Top the pork with the cooked onions and a generous pour of hot sauce.
Place the top bun on top and cut in half for serving.
Maybe Not Such a Small Meal After All
So there you have it. I hope your eyes will feast on our lanche, and maybe you will give it a try wherever you are. I know that it looks like a lot of food for the two of us, but we invited six of our imaginary friends to dine with us.
If you try any of these dishes, let me know what you think. Leave a comment below or send one via the Contact Form.
Enjoy your lanche / Aproveite sua lanche
Mary
The Cook
Yum! We loved the bifana sammies when we visited and are keeping the recipe close so we can have them whenever the mood for lanche strikes.
Hi Heather,
The bifanas have become one of our favorites. We even had a seitan version from a vegetarion food truck in Cascais last week. More on that later.
All our best,
Mike
Arghh! Forgive typos! :-/
Mary,
Honestly, I may just take you up one day. My travel fever subsided a bit with all the complications with quarantining and such; however, since August I have been reading an entry in 1000 Places to See Before You Die and 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die ever morning. I’ve been using Google Map to track all the places I want to visit: chocolatiers, cheesemakers, restaurants, museums, and other sites of interest. I’ve only made my way through the UK, France, and Belgium in the first book, and UK and France in the second. Once I get through Portugal in each – and Covid simmers down a bit more – I will hatch a plan and “stick a pin” on Mike and Mary’s house for an overnight stay, if you don’t mind! I would love to spend time with the two of you – my “fellow travelers,” as David and Bonnie say.
More hugs,
Nan
Looks mahvelous!
If I ate all this stuff (along with my” imaginary friends”) I would be gaining so much weight. But I do have to remember both of you are walking to the stores and all the other places you are sharing. I love keeping up (not with the walking but with your posts – LoL).
Art
Hey Art, so good to hear from you. I was hoping to drop a few pounds when I moved to a place with no car, but that is not happening. The bread and goodies are such a temptation and the wine is under three euros a bottle. Yikes! If I don’t talk with you again before the holidays I hope that you and yours have a wonderful and safe Christmas. Mary – The Cook.
Good morning, friends!
Happy first Saturday in December to you!
I finally wised up today and started noting the locations you mention in your blog on my Google Maps app – with notes to remind me why I want to go there should I ever find myself in Porto!
Take good care and thank you for sharing your adventures with all of us!
Hugs,
Nan
Happy first Saturday in December to you too!
What a great idea to add locations to Google Maps to remind you where to visit. Please know you will always have a room in our home whenever you want to visit. Enjoy your holidays.
Hugs for you,
Mary – The Cook