Say hello to the most epic sandwich you will ever encounter – the Francesinha. Seek out this meaty, cheesy delight and your standard tuna mayo or egg and cress will forever pale in comparison.
The Francesinha isn’t hard to find in Porto, so spend a little time seeking out somewhere locals are eating to be sure of the tastiest specimen.
This may be called a ‘little French girl’ but little it ain’t (although the boyfriend and I agreed you could definitely fit a small child in there).
A traditional Francesinha contains wet-cured ham, smoke-cured pork, sausages and steak, all sandwiched between two slices of bread, lathered with molten cheese and drenched in a spicy tomato and beer sauce. With chips. Oh my.
I thought I was doing a rather good job of delicately eating mine in a ladylike fashion until my boyfriend exclaimed “well, there’re not many girls who could take a Francesinha like you do.” After that I stopped trying to be elegant and tried to take pride in my meat eating abilities.
It was heaven.
The best thing about the Francesinha is that it isn’t just something for the tourists. As we were leaving the restaurant, a little light-headed and a little bit in need of a lie down, we saw a tiny, elderly Portuguese lady tucking into a Francesinha, giant portion of chips and huge glass of Super Bock. Good on you, love.
