Restaurante Flor de Sal

Restaurante Flor de Sal

Mirandela, Portugal

A Mirandela restaurant where alheira is not a menu item but the menu item. The house alheira frita arrives in a cast-iron dish: split and blistered, with a fried egg on top and a mound of hand-cut fries. They source from local producers within a 20-kilometer radius. The dining room is simple, the wine list all Douro and Trás-os-Montes, and locals fill every table at lunch.

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Sausages served here

Alheira

Alheira

Trás-os-Montes, Portugal

Alheira is a smoked Portuguese sausage from Trás-os-Montes with a horseshoe shape, a pale golden skin, and a soft bread-and-meat filling. Portuguese Jews invented it during the Inquisition as camouflage: since they could not eat pork, they stuffed casings with poultry, bread, garlic, and olive oil so that Inquisition inspectors would see sausages hanging in their smokehouses and move on. The classic serving is deep-fried whole until the skin blisters, then plated with a fried egg and french fries. Alheira de Mirandela holds PGI (IGP) protection since 2008.

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