Francesinha

Francesinha is a very popular dish in Oporto, invented by Daniel David Silva, a former immigrant in France. Back to Portugal, missing the famous croque-monsieur, he came up with a big hot sandwich on a plate stuffed with sausages, beef and ham, topped by a fried egg and covered with melted cheese and spicy sauce made out of beer and tomatoes. It usually comes with french fries on the side.

In Oporto and cities nearby, people like to have it for dinner, specially if they can dance it off later, and, obviously, there are many many places all over the city specialized in francesinha and no consensus on which restaurant makes the best one, so we have to go and try some of them.

Last weekend I went to a place near the river Douro and ate the biggest francesinha I had ever seen. Although I appreciated the fact that the bread had been previously toasted, I couldn't finish it. Still, I recommend Verso em Pedra. Just don't ask for the soft sauce: instead, ask for the regular one, not too spicy.

Internship-for-a-honeymoon report - Crepes

Au P'tit Grec - The most delicious salty crepes

One of my favourite components of tourism is the local gastronomy, which includes all the foreign restaurants and markets that immigrants have in every city.

For my internship-for-a-real-honeymoon I went with my husband to Paris, where we met five years ago, to relive every place, every street, every corner, every smell and every memory and it was a very pleasant weekend. One of the best things about going back to a place you know so well is that you don't have to get into every single museum, you don't need to make a pit stop in every single touristic point and you can choose the ones you already know you like the best. And that's what we did.

We also knew where and what we wanted to eat or to taste, so it was a high caloric trip, but also very tasty.

There's a very nice place in Rue Mouffetard called Au P'tit Grec, where a group of five greek men make sweet and salty crepes but I, for one, think it's a shame to go there and not trying at least a salty one, since they are so good and so big they can be very nice dinner. I had the same I always did: mushrooms and lots and lots of emmental cheese; and my husband tried one with egg, ham and also lots and lots of emmental cheese. They all come with lettuce, tomato and onion, but this time I didn't want the tomato.

It was an explosion of taste I hadn't felt again in four years and that I was craving for, for a long time.

Cinnabon

When I went to London last year, I was advised by my sister to try Cinnabons, but I wasn't very into it, as I had already tried some cinnamon rolls and I hadn't like it at all.

Well, I tried it in Piccadilly Circus - they were offering outside their store - and I felt like I was eating a piece of heaven: very moist, sweet, with no raisins and a very very good taste of vanilla.

I went there another two or three times before I left, but I could never eat anything like that again.

The hole toast

This dish reminds me of my childhood, when I used to spend the whole day on the beach in Benidorm and, in the evening, after a refreshing bath, I almost always had this toast for dinner. It's very simple, yet very comfortable, and I had the opportunity of trying it again last summer, after a long time apart.

You need:

2 loaves of bread

sliced cheese (as much as you want)

sliced ham (as much as you want)

1 egg

Toast the loaves of bread for a little while. Put the slices of cheese and of ham on top of one of them.

Fry an egg and place it on your sandwich. Cover it all with the second slice of bred, but only after you made a hole on it, right above the egg yolk.

If you like, spread it with butter.

Place it in the oven just a little bit for the cheese to melt. Eat with french fries.

Traditional markets

Markets are a really nice and interesting place to visit, specially when you're in a foreign country, as you can find food products that you don't find very easily in a commun supermarket. Last summer, in south Spain, I walked through a traditional market, where what caught my attention the most were the fruits and vegetables, the variety of cheese and the seafood.
You can see for yourself.

Many kinds of olives

Turnips, green and red peppers, aubergines and peas

Fish and other seafood

A world full of cheese