Hoodie – Prato do Dia: Francesinha

Description

I know the Francesinha is Porto’s golden boy. It’s up there with the time José Mourinho took FC Porto to the Champions League final and won in 2004—but I must admit I’m not a fan (well, of both the football team and the Francesinha). However, I would never be accused of only serving up dishes that I enjoy while ignoring everyone else’s favourites.

Now, if you are easily offended and a little sensitive about what might be your favourite wet sandwich, I suggest you stop reading here. I will try not to be too harsh, but Glen will be Glen, and toes may get stepped on. So, cuidado com os pezinhos.

The Francesinha can be best described as a meat-filled sandwich smothered in a melted cheese and beer sauce, usually served with a side of chips to help mop up the carnage. “This sounds amazing!” I hear you all proclaim.

But do we all know the legend of how the sandwich came about? Back in the day—it might have been the 1970s, or it most likely was way longer ago like in the 1700s (look, I don’t know, I make silly t-shirts, I’m not a history teacher)—the Earl of Sandwich was playing cards with his group of friends and asked his servants to whip up something they could eat without having to stop playing their Gin Rummy. The servants thought long and hard, slapped some cucumber between two slices of bread, and invented the cucumber sandwich (that’s what English people eat, right?).

Now, if we look at our Prato do Dia contender, the Francesinha is technically a sandwich, but it fails the most important rule of what makes a sandwich: you can’t keep playing cards while eating it unless you want a terrible mess on your hands. Literally. Your game of sueca or bisca will be completely ruined.

Not to be accused of being a princess who is too scared to get their fingertips dirty, I did try a Francesinha on one of my trips to Porto. Yes, the first few bites are packed with flavour and interesting textures, but this concoction is just far too filling. I conducted my research, had several before deciding it really wasn’t for me.

I won’t be making this at home, but if you do want to try it, I will provide you with the recipe and the merch to wear afterwards. And if you ever find yourself in Portugal, please find a local, ask them where the best place to get a Francesinha is, and try it. You do need to try it at least once.

The “Oporco” Ritual: How to Survive a Wet Sandwich

Look, since I’m not standing over a stove making this one, I’ll hand you the blueprint on how the pros do it in Porto.

The Pro-Tips:

– The Meat Stack: It’s a structural tower of ham, linguiça (smoked pork sausage), fresh sausage like chouriço fresco, and steak or roast beef.

-The Shield: Thick slices of crusty white bread and a heavy blanket of melted cheese over the top to trap all the heat.

-The Molho (The Sauce): This is the make-or-break element. A heavy, spiced tomato and beer-based sauce poured piping hot over the whole disaster until the bread surrenders.

The Assembly:

– The Build: Layer your meats between thick slices of toasted bread.

– The Lock: Cover the entire thing in slices of cheese, making sure it hangs over the sides like a molten blanket.

-The Drowning: Bake it until the cheese is bubbling, then submerge the whole creation in a lake of hot beer-and-tomato sauce.

The Execution: Serve it with a mountain of chips and a knife and fork. Abandon all hope of eating it with your hands unless you want to wash your forearms afterward.

Com licença—I’m off to eat something that doesn’t require a snorkel.