Between the Centro region's cities lie beautiful valleys, where travellers can go on fabulous wine tours in the wine growing areas of Dão and Bairrada, which date back to the 12th Century.
Good wine deserves good food, and Centro is home to some of Portugal's finest specialities, starting in Bairrada, where suckling pig is a local delicacy. 'Caldeirada' is a delicious fish casserole, while other specialities include smoked meats and morcelas de arroz, a ricebased black pudding.
There are many superb regional dishes and two famous wine regions, Bairrada and Dão, noted for their excellent wines.
Traditional sweets
Over on the coast, fish and shellfish are compulsory and absolutely superb with all their freshness and flavour. Inland, traditional villagers opt for goat as well as ‘Chanfana’ a veal dish. Their diet also consists of freshwater fish and a penchant for smoked meats.
For afters choose from the rich egg ‘ovos moles of Aveiro’, sweetbread in Ovar or the area’s Easter speciality of folares. For those without a sweet tooth, there are numerous delicious cheeses on offer, including famous soft cheese Serra
To sample some seriously tasty local Centro cuisine, reserve a table at very popular restaurant A Taberna in Coimbra. Students, locals and tourists all rub shoulders in these busy dining rooms, where the chef goes to the market himself to look for the best and freshest of ingredients. His best dishes are as goat meat roasted tender in wine, or oven-cooked veal with roast potatoes to soak up the juice. Fishermen's favorite, cod and potatoes is apparently another good dish.
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