Francesinha ( meaning ''Frenchie'') is a Portuguese sandwich originally from Porto, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like

chipolata A chipolata () is a type of fresh sausage, likely created in France. Sausages by that name appear in the 1903 edition of Escoffier's . Chipolatas are often prepared as a relatively thin and short sausage. Chipolatas are typically made from coars ...

, steak or roast meat, and covered with melted cheese and a hot and thick spiced tomato and beer sauce. It is typically served with

french fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

History

Daniel David de Silva, a returned French emigrant from France and Belgium, tried to adapt the croque-monsieur to the Portuguese taste when he moved to Porto. He first made the sandwich with local meats and his special sauce in 1953 at 'A ''Regaleira, a restaurant in Rua do Bonjardim, Porto; the francesinha quickly became a very popular dish and deeply associated with the city, although it can be found in many other places in Portugal. A classic francesinha meal would include the sandwich, surrounded on a bed of French fries doused in the famous sauce, and complemented with a ''fino'', a draught beer.

Variations

There is no standard recipe for the francesinha. Different restaurants in Portugal have special variations, such as: * Café Barcarola (Porto): Francesinha à Barcarola - A Francesinha Especial with

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and

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

; * Café Ábaco (Porto): Francesinha de carne assada - A Francesinha Especial with roast pork; * A Cascata (Porto): ''Francesinha à Cascata'' - A Francesinha Especial with mushrooms and cream; * Restaurante Cunha (Porto): Francesinha à Cunha - Extremely large Francesinha. The (special francesinha) is a francesinha with egg and/or potato chips. Other variations of the original include fillings such as pork, chicken, pastrami, tuna,

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

and vegetarian options.

Sauce

Francesinha sauce varies, with each establishment having its variation. The only common ingredient is beer. Most, though not all, sauces are tomato based and vary in their degree of spiciness. The color is usually red or orange.

Regional variants

'' Francesinha poveira'' is a form of francesinha distinctive to Póvoa de Varzim, north of Porto, created in the early 1960s. The poveira form uses different bread and sauce to form a sandwich that can be eaten by hand. ''Pica-pau'' is a breadless variant in which a steak is cut into bite-sized pieces and covered with sauce. The name ''pica-pau'' ( woodpecker) references the traditional means of consumption with small skewers or toothpicks—making the diner "peck" at the dish.

Reception

'' The Daily Meal'' included the francesinha in their article "12 Life-Changing Sandwiches You've Never Heard Of".

References

External links

*
Francesinhas - History of the Francesinha
*
Francesinha Póveira
*
Irmandade da Francesinha
- Ranking and evaluation of Francesinhas {{sandwhich Portuguese cuisine Cheese sandwiches Culture in Porto Beef sandwiches Cheese dishes Egg dishes Ham dishes Sausage dishes Pork sandwiches