22 Portuguese dishes with hilarious names that often confuse Brazilians

Hi! I’m Fernanda, a Brazilian journalist who loves living in Portugal. Despite having already built a life in Lisbon and feeling totally comfortable here, it has things that I don’t think I’ll ever get used to! Among them are the hilarious names of Portuguese dishes, which “kill” me with laughter every time I go to a restaurant.

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When I arrived in Portugal, I just couldn’t order bitoque in restaurants. Not that I expected the waiter to kiss me, but just imagining this scene made me change my mind. A pity, because the dish is traditional, simple and tasty.

Around here, bitoque is a thinly sliced ​​beef steak, with a fried egg on top and a well-seasoned sauce based on olive oil and garlic. Usually, it is served on an individual platter that goes in the oven and arrives at the table hot. It accompanies fries and, in some restaurants, rice and salad.

the nail is best seller in Portugal when it comes to street food. It’s basically a bread and meat sandwich. The ideal version has a very moist thin beef steak, which is enough to moisten the fresh bread. Very practical to go out eating on the streets.

Would you order a soup with that name? I confess that for a long time I didn’t…

The sour soup is originally from Terceira Island (controversial sages), in the Azores archipelago, and there is nothing about sour soup. The name is due to the fact that the dish uses vinegar.

This soup is special because, in addition to vinegar, it has sugar and cinnamon, which make up an exotic flavor. The ingredient list also has: yellow beans, sweet potatoes, potatoes and squash. All this seasoned with Portuguese flavors.

The dish got its name because it is associated with a legend. According to accounts, an exhausted and hungry friar, after wandering all day, decided to stop to rest in a village. He knocked on the door of a house with only a stone in his hand, asking if he could come in to make some soup. Stunned, the residents allowed him to cook. The pilgrim then asked for a pot of water and, little by little, taking advantage of the hosts’ curiosity, he added ingredients:

— Can I use a drizzle of olive oil?
“This is even good with bacon, do you have it?”
— May I mix a little of this beans to thicken the soup?

And so on… until the plate turned out just the way he wanted it.

Stone soup is a simple soup, the famous grandma’s food. She takes red beans, sausages, potatoes, cilantro and whatever else is in the fridge.

Unlike some dishes on this list that seem to have been named to confuse us, tripas à moda do Porto are exactly what the name says: a tripe dish originating in the city of Porto. The inhabitants of the region are even nicknamed “tripeiros”, that is, people who eat tripe.

The dish is similar to our tripe with white beans. It consists of a mixture of tripe with other meats and sausages, cooked with white beans and vegetables.

“Secreto” is a pork muscle that is inside the bacon. The preparation also has no secret: the pork pieces are seasoned and grilled. The Black Pork Secret is usually served with French fries.

As with several other dishes mentioned here, rojões is a simple and economical food, which is part of the food routine of the Portuguese people. And, let’s face it, there’s nothing explosive.

Rojões are small pieces of pork (yes, you eat a lot of pork here), with a touch of paprika, white wine and other Portuguese seasonings that appear in almost every recipe, such as olive oil, bay leaf and garlic. Usually boiled and served with potato (always her).

Woodpecker is the famous mincemeat. Cubes of pork (but there is also the beef variation) sautéed in the Portuguese style, with whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. In restaurants, it is very common for it to be served with pickled cucumbers, cauliflower and carrots, which are quite common here.

Now, the reason for the name is a good question… it seems to come from “picar”, which is what our Spanish neighbors call the act of eating appetizers, our “pinch”.

Am I the only one imagining a cod that went wrong in something and that’s why it’s “chipped”?

Chipped cod is nothing more than cod fillets baked with traditional Portuguese seasonings, such as garlic, olive oil and bay leaf, and then broken into flakes — it’s not shredded, it’s actually flaked, in larger pieces. To complete the meal, cod is served with potatoes, cabbage, chickpeas, olives or other vegetables.

Yes, that’s what you’re thinking! They are cod heads. Another one of those names that give the biggest spoilerbut we don’t take it because we don’t want to believe.

Cod faces are cooked and served with vegetables and boiled eggs, a preparation very similar to the most popular cod dishes. Will you face it?

For Brazilians, the old rag, also known in Portugal as old clothes, would be like the infamous “rest donte”, that is, a reuse of leftovers. In this case, the leftovers are from a specific dish: Christmas Eve, which families already make extra, thinking about the next day.

The consoada consists of cod, potatoes and cabbage, among other ingredients, which can vary. For the old farrapo, the cod is shredded and the vegetables chopped into smaller pieces. Go all together in the pan, adjust the seasoning and that’s it. Delicious!

From the name, you can’t tell what the dish is. First, because clams are actually clams in Portugal. And then, why not take duck. The name is a tribute to the poet Raimundo António de Bulhão Pato.

Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato is a very traditional dish around here. It is simply clams cooked in a sauce of garlic, coriander, olive oil, lemon and white wine.

If it wasn’t for the photo, it would be very difficult to hit this one! Sapateira is a type of large crab, very common in Portugal. Portuguese crab is usually served cooked and stuffed or au gratin.

Surely I didn’t notice a thing when I saw it for the first time! Goose barnacles are a species of crustacean that looks more like a dinosaur’s paw — with nails and all — and with a little worm inside, which is the edible part.

The delicacy is popular in Portugal and Spain, where it is served cooked with common spices. When testing, it is necessary to have an open mind and even some courage. For seafood fans, I highly recommend it.

That name is really good! And the contents of the dish are more obvious than they seem: bread crumbs. It is a kind of wet farofa made with stale bread.

As with our farofa, there are many variations in migas recipes. A classic is the Alentejo bread migas (bread typical of the Alentejo region, where migas originate from) or bread, with cabbage and black-eyed peas.

Again, as with migas, with codfish faces and with other dishes, the name is a spoilerwhich we are not always able to decipher.

Already very common in Brazil, potato to the punch is potato ball (potato Baby) boiled, punched (yes, but only until flattened) and roasted until browned.

This was one of the first desserts I came across in Portugal, as it is on the menu of every restaurant. Despite the unappetizing name, I quickly surrendered, as its appearance and brief description convinced me.

Camel drool is made with condensed milk cooked in a can (dulce de leche), eggs (always!) and toasted almonds or crushed Maria biscuits to put on top.

Anyone who knows Portugal knows that it is a regionalist country, where each city insists on maintaining its traditions and serving its own dishes, sweet or savory. Leiria is proud of the bree do lis (or bree do liz).

This sweet is seen by Brazilians living in Portugal as a close relative of quindim, as it is a cake made of yolks with sugar, water and almonds. In the case of the Brazilian version, we replaced the almonds with grated coconut, which is a more accessible ingredient in the country.

Pillows from Sintra (a beautiful city with palaces and gardens in the Lisbon region) have also become quite popular with tourists. Where does the name come from? It can only be your format.

Like a typical Portuguese sweet, it has an egg cream filling and almonds, as well as a touch of sprinkled sugar and cinnamon. The difference is in the dough, which is puffy and very crispy.

Napkins have this name because they are usually presented in the form of napkins, folded in a triangle.

As with most sweets around here, yellow dough is the result of too many eggs. And in this case, the traditional filling is pastry cream, but it can also be eggs or chocolate.

Researching the origin of the name, I came to no conclusion. So, if you have an idea, share it here in the comments. Does the candy look like deer hooves? Anyway…

If at this point you’re thinking that Portuguese sweets are just eggs, you’re not 100% wrong. Patas de veado is a sponge cake filled with egg cream.

Toucinho do Céu has nothing to do with toucinho, but you can understand the name knowing the Portuguese preference for sweets: there are a lot of eggs! It is also common to find bacon from the sky with sweet gila, which is a type of pumpkin.

Going to restaurants and bakeries in Portugal can be, in addition to being delicious, fun! Which of these dishes would you never order by name alone?