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FijiFlavors · Coimbra
Meat from an old goat marinated in red wine with garlic and bay leaf and cooked for hours in a clay pot in a wood-fired oven. A dish from the mountain ranges of the Coimbra district, where Miranda do Corvo and Vila Nova de Poiares compete for the title of capital.
Traditional dish from Coimbra
Also known as: chanfana de cabra
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Chanfana — Coimbra, Portugal
Chanfana is a goat meat dish, preferably from an old animal, cut into pieces and placed in a black clay pot with red wine, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper or paprika. The meat is left to marinate for at least a day and then slowly cooks in a wood-fired oven, with the pot covered, for about four hours. The wine reduces and the meat becomes tender, dark and very aromatic.
The dish originated as a use for old goat meat, a low-status meat that wine and the oven transform. In many villages, the pot would go to the communal oven. Chanfana also keeps well after cooking, which was important in times of scarcity.
It is typical of the hills east of the city of Coimbra, in municipalities such as Miranda do Corvo, Vila Nova de Poiares, Lousã and Penela. Miranda do Corvo and Vila Nova de Poiares both claim the title of chanfana capital. One of the stories told links the recipe to the Benedictine nuns of the convent of Semide, in Miranda do Corvo; it is tradition without documentary proof.
The municipalities of the region organize weeks and festivals dedicated to the dish, especially in the first half of the year, gathered under the name Terras da Chanfana. The black clay pots continue to be made by local potters, and the recipe varies slightly from village to village, but red wine is always present.
It is served in the pot itself, very hot, with boiled potato. It is a festive, shared dish for long family lunches.
Old goat meat, red wine, garlic, bay leaf, paprika or pepper, salt and olive oil; some recipes include clove or bacon. Boiled potato to accompany.
Very hot, served in the clay pot, with boiled potato. It is usually accompanied by red wine from the region.
Year-round; traditional at festivals and family lunches. The region's festivals are concentrated in the first half of the year.
Your questions
From old goat meat marinated in red wine with garlic, bay leaf and paprika, slowly cooked in a clay pot in a wood-fired oven.
Miranda do Corvo and Vila Nova de Poiares, two municipalities in the Coimbra district, claim the title. The dish is typical of the entire mountain range east of the city of Coimbra.
With boiled potato, served in the clay pot itself. It is usually accompanied by red wine from the region.
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