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A Portuguese sandwich, the Francesinha
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| Type | Sandwich |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Porto, Portugal |
| Main ingredients | bread, ham, linguiça, fresh sausage (chipolata), steak or roast meat, cheese, spiced tomato-and-beer sauce |
| Variations | egg atop |
Francesinha (Portuguese pronunciation: [fɾɐ̃sɨˈziɲɐ] meaning little French woman[1][2]) is a Portuguese sandwich, originally from Porto, made with layers of toasted bread and assorted hot meats such as roast, steak, wet-cured ham, linguiça, or chipolata over which sliced cheese is melted by the ladling of a near-boiling tomato-and-beer sauce called molho de francesinha [pt].[1] It is typically served with french fries.
The francesinha is a twentieth-century creation attributed to Daniel David de Silva[3] who, upon returning to Portugal from time spent in France and Belgium, tried to adapt the croque-monsieur to Portuguese tastes. In 1953, he introduced a sandwich with local meats and a custom beer-and-tomato sauce at A Regaleira, a restaurant in Rua do Bonjardim in Porto. The francesinha quickly became a popular dish, and while it remains associated with the city, it can now be found throughout Portugal.
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There is no standard recipe for the francesinha. Different restaurants in Portugal have special variations, such as:
The francesinha especial (special francesinha) is a francesinha with egg and/or potato chips. Other variations of the original include fillings such as pork, chicken, pastrami, tuna, cod and vegetarian options.
Francesinha sauce varies, with each establishment having its variation. The only common ingredient is beer. Most, though not all, sauces are tomato based and vary in their degree of spiciness. The colour is usually red or orange.
Francesinha poveira is a form of francesinha distinctive to Póvoa de Varzim, north of Porto, created in the early 1960s. The poveira form uses different bread and sauce to form a sandwich that can be eaten by hand.
Pica-pau is a breadless variant in which a steak is cut into bite-sized pieces and covered with sauce. The name pica-pau (woodpecker) references the traditional means of consumption with small skewers or toothpicks—making the diner "peck" at the dish.
The Daily Meal included the francesinha in their article "12 Life-Changing Sandwiches You've Never Heard Of".[4]
