Top 4 Traditional Cooked Sausages
in Trás-os-Montes

The filling for this traditional smoked delicacy is made by combining small pieces of meat and bread. This sausage is traditionally smoked using olive or oak wood, which gives it a unique flavor, aroma, and color while enhancing the flavor of the spices. Mirandela sausage contains beef and pork meat along with fat, poultry meat, wheat bread, olive oil, and lard, and it's flavored and seasoned with salt, garlic, and sweet or hot paprika. This sausage is an irreplaceable ingredient in traditional Portuguese dishes such as açorda, cannelones, and pies, but it can also be served as a main dish with a side of potatoes or vegetables.Expand

The municipality of Vinhais is the fumeiro (smokehouse) capital of the Trás-os-Montes region, and it produces some of the best cured meat products in the world. Vinhais sausage is a smoked sausage made with cooked meat of locally raised bísaro pigs, which is only lightly flavored and seasoned with salt, garlic, and paprika. After the meat has been cooked, bread is added to the mixture before it's stuffed into sausage casings. Vinhais sausage has a yellowish-brown color and a very pleasant, uniqe aroma and flavor. Alheira de Vinhais can be eaten fried, oven-roasted, or grilled, and it is typically served with a side of boiled or fried potatoes and cooked vegetables.Expand

This sweet, smoked chorizo sausage is a specialty of the Vinhais region in northeastern Portugal, and it is made from lean meat and fat taken from the Bísaro breed of pig or its cross-breeds. The chopped meat is mixed with pig's blood, local wheat bread, honey, walnuts, almonds, and olive oil. After it has been seasoned and flavored, the mixture is stuffed into thin sausage casings and slowly smoked until it develops a dark color and an intense, smoky flavor. The sausage must be fried to be fit for consumption, and it is usually served with fresh bread, local cheese, and a glass of full-bodied red wine on the side.Expand

With a history dating back to the 15th century, this sausage delicacy was invented by the Jewish community in Portugal. When given the choice between converting to Christianity or being expelled from the country, the Portuguese Jews opted for the latter, but decided to keep practicing Judaism in secret. In order not to draw unwanted suspicion while still abiding by Kosher law, they began making and eating sausages using meat other than pork, such as rabbit or poultry. Nowadays, Barroso-Montalegre sausage is made by combining different meats and bread with spices that provide it with a unique flavor. Pimento, sweet red paprika (known locally as pimentão), onions, parsley, and olive oil give alheira de Barroso-Montalegre its unmistakable aroma and color.Expand