Culture’s Relation to Food

Culture’s Relation to Food The Portuguese have a wide range of cuisine that date way back to the 15th century. During the fifteenth century a Portuguese Navigator by the name of Prince Henry sent his explorers on a journey around the world and told them to bring back any exotic food or fruit they discover and this is came to be known as the “Age of Discovery”. This event caused Portugal to develop far more food groups and many more diverse meals which further influenced their culture into a more diversified one.
Types of Foods Eaten
Portugal as discussed above is rich in the tradition of food. The Portuguese are known from fish and crustaceans to cheese and wines. Portugal has a huge coastline which brings forth a huge sum of seafood into their diets. One dish that the Portuguese depend highly on and is found at least once on the table daily is soup. No matter what type of soup it is or when it is served; it is an important key in their diets. The national dish of Portugal is called "cozido". This is a dish very similar to the Irish dish, beef and cabbage. It is made with cabbage and fresh fish from the coastal waters of Portugal. Seafood is not the only food group famous in Portugal, beef and chicken are also loved. Grilled steak one of the most famous and popular meals that any Portuguese can have and it is often cooked in red wine for revitalizing flavour. Pork is also a very popular meat in Portugal. Pork meat is often served with acorns and white truffles that are commonly found in the oak grove of the country. Cheese is another large part of the daily diet of a Portuguese citizen. The most popular cheese is "Queijo da Serra", a sheep cheese. It has a smooth consistency and a flavor comparable to Bries. Pastries and sweets are another food that Portugal is noted for. There are said to be over 200 different kinds of sweets native to Portugal. The fascination with desserts and sweets is said to have originated during the Moorish occupation of Portugal and