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FijiFlavors · Aveiro
Suckling pig of one to one-and-a-half months, seasoned with garlic and pepper and roasted whole in a wood-fired oven until the skin becomes thin and crispy. Specialty of the Bairrada, centered in Mealhada, in the district of Aveiro.
Traditional dish from Aveiro
Also known as: leitão à Bairrada, leitão assado à moda da Bairrada
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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Leitão da Bairrada — Aveiro, Portugal
The Bairrada suckling pig is a very young pig, about one to one-and-a-half months old, roasted whole on a spit in a wood-fired oven. Before going into the oven, it is spread inside and out with a paste of garlic, salt, pepper, lard and other seasonings. It roasts slowly for about two hours and comes out with thin, golden, crispy skin and tender, juicy meat.
Technique makes the difference. The oven is traditionally heated with vine wood; during roasting, the pig is taken out of the oven to be brushed with the sauce it releases, which dries the skin and gives it color and texture. The roasters control temperature and time so the meat does not lose moisture.
Bairrada is a region of vineyards and small villages between Aveiro and Coimbra, and the center of the suckling pig tradition is Mealhada, in the district of Aveiro. According to the Regional Coordination and Development Commission of the Centre, the oldest written references date from the 18th century, and a 1743 convent manuscript with a method similar to today's is often cited. Commercial fame grew from the second half of the 19th century, with the railway and specialized houses along the roads.
The connection with the region's wines is part of the tradition: the suckling pig is usually served with the Bairrada sparkling wine and other local wines. Producers and the confraternity of the suckling pig defend the use of suitable animals and the wood-fired oven.
It is served cut into pieces, hot or at room temperature, with thinly sliced fried potatoes, salad and orange. It is also common in a sandwich, on bread.
Suckling pig of one to one-and-a-half months; paste of garlic, salt, pepper, lard and, depending on the establishment, parsley, bay leaf and white wine.
In pieces, hot or at room temperature, with thinly sliced fried potatoes, salad and orange. Also in a sandwich. It usually accompanies Bairrada sparkling wine.
All year round; traditional at family lunches, celebrations and weddings.
Your questions
The age of the animal—one to one-and-a-half months—the garlic-and-pepper seasoning, and the slow roasting in a wood-fired oven, which leaves the skin thin and crispy and the meat juicy.
It is a wine region between Aveiro and Coimbra, in the Centre of Portugal. The center of the suckling pig tradition is Mealhada, in the district of Aveiro.
With thinly sliced fried potatoes, salad and orange. It usually accompanies the Bairrada sparkling wine or another wine from the region.
Flavors of Portugal
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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.
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Almond paste sweet shaped like a loaf of bread, filled with egg sweet, chila and egg threads, served with marzipan olives. Created by the nuns of the Convento de Santa Helena do Calvário, in Évora.
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Ginja liqueur, an acidic cherry from the region, served in small chocolate cups that are eaten afterwards. Tasting ginjinha in a chocolate cup is one of the things Turismo de Portugal recommends in Óbidos.
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Hearty bean soup with pork and beef cuts, sausages and vegetables, served with a stone at the bottom of the pot. It is a traditional specialty guaranteed by the European Union and associated with Almeirim, in the district of Santarém.
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Rice cooked with pork, beef and chicken, pork blood and spices, served with rojões and sausages. The Municipality of Ponte de Lima, in the district of Viana do Castelo, calls it the hallmark of its gastronomy.
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Crescent of crisp puff pastry filled with minced veal. It has a protected geographical indication from the European Union, with production restricted to the municipality of Chaves, in the district of Vila Real.
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