Portuguese gastronomy plays an important role in the country’s culture and every major holiday in Portugal has its own seasonal dishes and sweet treats. Of course, that includes Christmas, when a wide variety of traditional Portuguese Christmas dishes and desserts can be found up and down the country during the festive period.

While bacalhau (salt cod) is the most famous Portuguese dish for Christmas Eve (Consoada), there are several other traditional Portuguese Christmas recipes that don’t include bacalhau. Here are two beloved ones to try:


Polvo à Lagareiro - Octopus à Lagareiro or Roasted octopus with olive oil and garlic

Octopus cooked with potatoes and drizzled with olive oil and garlic.

One of the most cherished Portuguese recipes is Polvo à Lagareiro. The Portuguese love this dish and although it's typical of the Christmas season, it’s also a typical Sunday lunch choice. The octopus is usually cooked in a lot of olive oil with garlic and baked potatoes make the perfect side. The olive oil mill – ‘lagar’ in Portuguese – was the place where the olives were crushed by hand presses to extract the olive oil. That’s where the ‘lagareiro’ came from.

If you haven’t tried this dish yet, give it a chance this Christmas.

Ingredients

2kg octopus

1kg potatoes

2 small onions

3 large tomatoes

4 cloves of garlic

Fresh parsley, to taste

Fresh coriander

1 bay leaf

Olive oil

Sea salt

Black pepper, ground

Directions

Remove the octopus from the fridge one hour before cooking. Preheat oven to 180°C.

Clean and wash the octopus, then place it in a large saucepan with water and a peeled onion. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until it is tender.

Wash the potatoes well with the skin on and bake them in the oven at 180 ºC covered with sea salt until they are soft.

Once the octopus is cooked, turn off the heat, drain it and let it cool a little.

Mash the potatoes lightly (give each one a small punch).

Slice or roughly mince the 2 garlic cloves and mix it with olive oil in a small bowl.

Pour the olive oil and the 2 garlic cloves into the bottom of a baking tray. Add the potatoes, tomatoes and the octopus. Drizzle everything with the remaining olive oil and garlic. Sprinkle with ground pepper and coriander.

Bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes until slightly browned.

Remove from oven and add chopped parsley.


Cabrito assado - Roast young goat (Kid)

Cabrito Assado no Forno com Batatas is a classic Portuguese goat roast, traditionally consumed during Christmas. It combines a whole leg of a young goat marinated overnight and then slowly roasted with some baby potatoes.

In Portuguese, there are three different names to distinguish lamb and goat meat. Cabrito, Borrego and Anho. When we mention ‘cabrito’, we mean the young animal from the goat breed that comes precisely from goats. On the other hand, ‘borrego’ is a lamb from the sheep breed and its meat is softer and lighter. Finally, ‘anho’ is an older lamb.

Ingredients

1 baby goat leg (cabrito), cut into pieces

700g potatoes

Olive oil

1 tsp Piri Piri Powder

1 tsp Sweet Paprika

3 garlic cloves

Fresh thyme, chopped

Fresh parsley

Sea salt

Black pepper, ground

White wine

Directions

Start by combining the olive oil, piri-piri powder, paprika, garlic cloves, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl, then coat the meat well with the marinade.

Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight

Remove the meat from the fridge 40 minutes in advance. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 180°C.

Place the meat in a baking tray with the marinade liquids, and add wine. Cover the tray with aluminium foil, then bake it for approximately 1,5h.

Check your goat halfway through; if the liquid has evaporated too much, add wine or a little water.

In the meantime, peel the baby potatoes.

After 1.5 hours, remove the foil and place the potatoes around the meat and continue to bake for another 30 minutes, until the goat is tender and slightly browned.

Serve with freshly chopped parsley or any herb of your choice.