Overview Of Portugal: Geography, Culture And Food
Geography and Culture
The Republic of Portugal (A República Portuguesa, The Portuguese Republic) is located between 9°10 '-6°9' west longitude and 36° 58'-42°8' north latitude, in the southwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. The northeast is attached to Spain, and the southwest is the Atlantic Ocean. The territory is 92,391 km2 (the sum of territory and airspace). Topography Coastline of Portugal is 832km long. The terrain is brought up in the north and low in the south, mostly in the mountains and hills. The northern part is the Meseta Plateau; the central mountainous area is in an average elevation of 800 to 1000 meters. The Szterella Peak is at an altitude of 1991 meters; the south and west are the hills and coastal plains. The main rivers are the Tejo River, the Douro River (322 kilometers through the territory) and the Mondegu River.
Climatic Characteristics
The northern part is a temperate broad-leaved forest climate, and the south is a subtropical Mediterranean climate. The average temperature is 7 to 11 ° C in January and 20 to 26 ° C in July. The average annual precipitation is 500-1000mm.
Various Ethnic Groups
In 2014, the population of Spain was 10.375 million. Among them, Portugal accounted for 96.9%, and foreign legal immigrants accounted for 3.1% (mainly from Africa, Brazil, the European Union and Asia). The population density is 113 people/km2. The labor force is 5.3 million, the birth rate is 9.5%, and the death rate is 10%. The official language is Portuguese. About 84.5% of the residents believe in Catholicism, 2.2% are Protestants, 0.3% believe in other religions, 3.9% have no religious beliefs or are uncertain.
Traditional Festivals or Holidays
Since 2003, Portugal has designated July 26 as a grandparent day. Nationals should make every effort to be with their grandparents and carry forward the fine spirit of respecting the elderly and loving the old. The Portuguese parliament also called for the eradication of the phenomenon of discrimination and abuse of the elderly in the family, and broke into the practice of sending people to nursing homes for some people on holiday. On the streets and shopping malls, there is a peaceful scene of three generations walking or shopping together on this day.
Basket Festival was another famous festival. History of the "Basketball Festival" goes back to the beginning of the AD. It is a part of the traditional festivals in Portugal and is held every four years. On the day of the festival, the young woman in white put a huge basket on her head and took part in the parade. The height of each basket is the same as the height of the woman on the top of the basket. In addition to a variety of paper flowers, there are very different types of bread from the basket. The woman with the basket on her head was shown to the world that her body is mature enough to power the next generation. The “Basketball Festival” is therefore considered a ritual for indigenous women in adults.
College Students' Day is the annual Portuguese University Students' Day takes place in some cities in the country in early May. Among them, Coimbra College Student Festival is the most important thing, and the float parade is the most famous.
Fruits and Vegetables
The national fruit of Portugal is grapes. There are many small wine estates in Portugal. There are many wine brands. The variety of wine grapes is distinct from the variety of fruit on the table. Because of the developed navigation, the market often has grapes from all regions of the world, green. Purple, white, long, Brazilian, Peruvian. Cherries are equally seasonal fruit produced in Portugal. The cherry color of Portugal is dark purple, the fruit is large and full, the core is small, and the meat is tender and sweet. Portugal also has some unique domestic vegetables.
“Portuguese cabbage” is a part of the best examples. It is called “Penca” in the north and “Gasilla Cabbage” in Casilla. The classic Portuguese classic "caldo verde" is mainly based on this dish. Portugal is part of the principal producing areas of the world's tomatoes. At present, the yearly export volume accounts for the fourth place in the world. In the early 1970s, it once occupied the third place in the world. Because the Portuguese tomato production area is released during the month of the irrigation area, it has the characteristics of dry heat in the Mediterranean summer and less heat, which are very suitable for tomato flowering. Portuguese people want to eat pasta, among which Portuguese sweet bread is best known. Sweet bread is a food produced using wheat flour, high-gluten flour and other ingredients. There is also fried bread. Toast made from wheat flour and high-gluten flour, which are the two most commonly used flowers in Portugal.
Proteins
Portugal is full of seafood, and sardines exported from Portugal are also very famous. In the inland areas of Portugal, meat is the main food. Pigs are the protagonists. There are a variety of pork sausages, which are famous for their black pork and dried sausages. A distinctive feature of the Portuguese meal is the top fresh squid (after the pickling is "Ma Jiexiu" salted fish), swimming shrimp, crab and all kinds of shellfish, brewing a unique starter and main course. Portugal has some of the world's most juicy pork, and the most delicious ham. In the southern Alentejo region, pigs stocked in the middle of the oak forest have a low fat content, and the meat is like a snowflake marble and full of aroma. This kind of smoked ham, especially the ham from the border town of Barrancos, is the best thing has competitor in Spain and Italy.
The most unusual dish of Alentejo is the pork and clams soaked in garlic and red pepper marinade. Portuguese roast suckling pigs are first marinated with olive oil, wine, black pepper, thyme, garlic and other ingredients. Then the olive oil are applicable to the skin during baking. The meat is soft and tender. Tender. When you are at the table, you can cut into larger pieces with crisp potato chips and juice oranges. The taste is more layered. Layer by layer, and fragrant fresh pepper juice pushes the taste to the peak. Alheira de Mirandela, a sausage-like thing, is not just a sausage, because it has a history behind it. The Jews in Portugal were compelled to convert to Catholicism. In order to hide their identity, they created this kind of sausage-like food, but the internal fillings changed from pork (Jewish doctrine prohibiting pork) to chicken, duck, beef, rabbit and bread. Mixing. Catholics see if they no longer doubt the sausage. Jews thus saved their faith and escaped the persecution. In Europe, only Icelanders eat more fish than Portuguese. Super chef Farran Adria said that the Atlantic Ocean in Portugal produces the best seafood in the world, knowing that he is a Spaniard. The fish sold in the market are surprisingly abundant, ranging from small cuttlefish to U-boat-sized swallows. Customary practice Fresh grouper is grilled with lemon, garlic and olive oil.
People say that Portugal has 365 ways to make salt squid. Bacalhau is the Portuguese word for "salted squid". It is typically served with scrambled eggs, olives and chips, like fish cake with black-eyed beans, roasted or simply boiled cabbage and carrots. Plus olive oil. At the University of Coimbra, some crushed cornbread will be added, and there will be mayonnaise in Porto. In Lisbon, it will grow up to be a popular salad with chickpeas and onions. Undoubtedly, the Portuguese is the most loved squid in the world. In Portugal, it is said that there are 1001 methods of making squid, and there are more than 300 methods of cooking only squid. Grilled squid with potatoes and fried green vegetables uses fresh and simple cooking techniques to the taste of the marinated squid. Depending on the Portuguese, their tradition of eating squid began in the era of golden voyages, which were a time of glory. The core practice of squid is mainly roasted, oil and fry. In addition to squid, the Portuguese favorite is sardines, and non-small sardines are not happy.
Grilled sardines are the most common and most frequently eaten in Portugal and are the most economical. The most traditional way to drink is to eat on the bread. In addition to the tiny sardines can be lifted directly from the tail and eaten.
Cooking, Flavoring & Traditional Dishes
Portuguese cuisine, treasured and beautiful. The climate here is mild and the seafood is abundant. From traditional dishes to fresh dishes, from upscale restaurants to roadside snacks, from business markets to lively bars, there are a wide variety of cuisine to satisfy all kinds of people, and it is definitely a paradise for food. Portuguese stew is a very heavy fish in Portugal. It is the king of stews. It stews beef, pork, pork ribs, sausages, chicken, cabbage, carrots, radishes, rice, potatoes, etc., usually with olives. Oil and red wine. There are diverse ways in different places, and Portuguese stew is considered part of the heritage of Portuguese cuisine.
The food in Portugal is expected to be very regional, with meat in the north and a rough style, while the south is Mediterranean. Only one dish will be linked across the country, and that is the cold stew. This dish is basically a pot of stew. It is more typical to put some beef, small pork, and sometimes chicken. There will always be cabbage, potatoes, carrots and sausages, including red and spicy chourico sausages and fennel. Flavored pig blood cake. Some areas have distinctive flavors, such as Algarve plus garbanzos and mint, Atelier with lamb and pumpkin, and Madeira with sweet potatoes. In the Azores, this dish is slowly cooked with volcanic geothermal heat. Queijo means the Portuguese word "cheese". Amarelo da Beira Baixa, a blend of goat and sheep milk, has been rated the best in the world for several years by tastings organized by Wine Spectator and Vanity Fair. There is also the Serra da Estrela, a goat cheese in the high mountains of Portugal, the hard and spicy beef cheese on the steep slopes of the Central Atlantic on the island of St. George, and the peppery Terrincho cheese from the far northeast of the northeast. This cheese can be invoked as a starter, along with red wine or porticoes of specialty port wine, sometimes accompanied by marmalade.
Grapes are the most eaten in Europe, more than Spanish and Italian. Spanish paella and Italian risotto are everywhere in the world, but the Portuguese rice errors have been ignored. Portuguese paella Arrozde machismo is gorgeous: full of rice and mixed with parsley, garlic-flavored tomato juice, plus a generous plate of seafood - lobster, crab, clams and shrimp. There are distinct dishes for this dish. Additional classics include errors de patio with duck meat in the oven; arrogate cabinet with lots of chicken blood; and arrogance with cinnamon as a dessert. As a customary maritime power, how can you get less seafood in Portuguese cuisine?
Portuguese paella consists of a wide variety of seafood, such as shrimp, crab, clams, blue shells, etc. The ingredients for paella in discrete regions are very different. Portuguese paella is the most authentic Portuguese traditional cuisine. It is different from paella, a Spanish paella in neighboring countries. The biggest difference is perhaps that the paella is soup, taste fresh shrimp and crab, chew rice filled with seafood soup, this feeling is a cool word. When it draws to Portuguese cuisine, almost everyone will mention Portuguese egg tarts. In fact, egg tarts are also marketed in China, but the taste and taste are quite different from the trustworthy Portuguese egg tarts. Portugal's most notorious egg tart shop is the antiquated shop of Pastéis de Belém in Bellin, Lisbon, which began in 1837 and is located right next to the Genham Abbey. Along the milk scent, you will see there was a tiny shop that is lined up with people. Freshly baked egg tarts, milky aromas, egg scent and caramel scent in the air bite down, the crispy skin and the smooth and sweet flesh complement each other, slamming your taste buds, slowly chewing, lips and teeth Satisfied with feelings, I can't wait to swallow the tongue. If you spread cinnamon powder on the egg tart, the taste will be more flavorful.
