RECIPE - Francesinha Sandwich

This recipe for Portugal's extravagant francesinha sandwich, which has crossed the South Atlantic in recent years and can now be found in thousands of Brazilian bars, lunch counters and restaurants, is courtesy of Brazilian food-writer Ailin Aleixo's food blog Gastrolândia.

The francesinha, with a delicate and feminine name, is decidedly a masculine sandwich. It's a dieter's nightmare, and and glutton's pipedream all in one. As mentioned in yesterday's post about how the sandwich came to be invented and how it arrived on Brazilian shores, one of these sandwiches represents well over a thousand calories - half of the daily total recommended intake for men and more than half of women's recommended intake.

Most people eat the sandwich in a commercial establishment. It's not something to throw together at home and preparing a home version involves making a relatively complex gravy as well as constructing the sandwich itself. But for those brave (foolhardy?) readers of the blog who want to try one out without having to travel to Brazil or Portugal, here's how it is done:
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RECIPE - Francesinha Sandwich

For the gravy:
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
6 oz (150 grams) flank steak (fraldinha) cut into medium-sized cubes
1 bay leaf
piri-piri hot sauce to taste (Tabasco sauce can be substituted)
2 Tbsp corn starch
3 Tbsp tomato paste
2 oz (60 ml) Port wine (optional)
2 cups (500 ml) Pilsner-style beer
salt to taste


For the sandwich:
1 slice good-quality smoked ham
1 small sausage of your choice (chorizo, linguiça, andouille, wurst, etc.) , sliced lengthwise and fried until nicely browned
1 slice Italian mortadella
3 slices mozzarella cheese
1 small boneless steak, grilled or fried
2 thick slices rustic peasant bread at least 1 in (3 cm) thick
1 fried egg (sunny-side-up is traditional)
gravy to taste
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Prepare the gravy: In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, the garlic, the cubes of meat and the bay leaf and fry them, stirring frequently, until the onion and the meat have nicely browned. Add the Port wine, if using, and the tomato paste and mix them in thoroughly. Pour in the beer and hot sauce, and correct for salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for at least one hour or until reduced by about half. Dissolve the corn starch in about 4 Tbsp cold water, then stir it in. Let cook for about 5 minutes or until the corn starch is transparent and has thickened the gravy. Remove from heat and strain through a sieve, pressing down on the solid ingredients. Reserve, keeping warm.

Prepare the sandwich: Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Place one slice of the bread in an ovenproof dish or casserole. Top the bread with one slice of the mozzarella, then the ham, mortadella and grilled steak. Add one more slice of cheeze and the second slice of bread. Top with the final slice of cheese. Place in the oven for 5-10 minutes, or until the meats are hot and the cheeze has melted and browned. Meanwhile, fry the egg. Remove the sandwich from the oven and place it on a deep plate, using a spatula and taking care that the sandwich remains whole. Pour the warm gravy over all, making sure there is plenty at the bottom of the plate. Top with the fried egg and serve immediately, accompanied with french fries if desired.

The Francesinha - Portugal's Latest Gift to Brazil

In numerous posts over the past couple of years, we've reminded the readers of Flavors of Brazil that the roots of Brazilian cuisine rest on the combination of three culinary traditions - the original tradition being the Native American or Indian one. It existed in the lands that would become Brazil long before the arrival of Europeans, and it still strongly influences Brazilian food culture today, particularly in the north of the country. The second tradition, the European tradition, was carried to Brazil by explorers, colonists and immigrants, particularly from Portugal. Its influence is felt most strongly in Brazil's south and south-east. The final tradition is the African, particularly important in north-eastern Brazil, and which came from Africa in the memories of slaves captured on that continent and transported to Brazil.

These three traditions date back to the very beginnings of Brazil and combine in all sorts of felicitous fashions to shape traditional and contemporary Brazilian cuisines alike. But these influences are not just something of the past. They continue to this day bringing new ingredients, new cooking styles and new recipes to the constantly-evolving world of Brazilian gastronomy.

One good example of this constant re-invention of Brazilian culinary influences is the recent arrival in Brazil of a Portuguese sandwich called the francesinha. Unlike many other Portuguese-influenced Brazilian dishes, like those made with salt-cod (bacalhau) or those which date back to the convent-confectionaries of 16th and 17th century Portugal, the francesinha only recently arrived in Brazil. It couldn't have come over with colonists and explorers, since it was only created in the 1960s, in Porto, Portugal. And it's only been in the first decade of this century that it has shown up on menus in this country, where it seems to be rising meteorically in culinary consciousness.

The francesinha (meaning little French girl in Portuguese) was invented by a Portuguese chef who had lived in Paris in the 60s and who was returned to Portugal enchanted by the beauty and style of French women. He was equally enchanted by a hot ham-and-cheese French sandwich called croque-monsieur. When he returned to Porto he used the croque-monsieur as a base for his inventive tribute to French womanhood - the francesinha. His sandwich was an immediate sensation and other bars and restaurants, first in Porto and then throughout Portugal, began to serve them, often modifying the original recipe with new ingredients and side-dishes. Today, almost every bar and lunch spot in the country has some sort of francesinha on offer.

With its diminuitive name (little French girl) one would think that the sandwich would be light and delicate. Nothing of the sort. A francesinha is a meal-and-a-half in a sandwich and finishing one leaves room for very little else for a long time. A nutritional study has found that the average francesinha packs a walloping 1200 calories once you add in the almost obligatory side of french fries.

So what makes a francesinha a francesinha? Basically the sandwich begins with two extra-thick slices of heavy, rustic peasant bread. Between the slices lie slices of sausage, ham, roast beef and cheese. Once the sandwich is plated another slice of cheese is placed over the top piece of bread and then francesinha sauce (a rich beef gravy made with beer, a touch of Port wine, and a good dose of piri-piri peppers) is poured over the sandwich, soaking the bread and the contents. The comes the final touch - a sunny-side-up fried egg on top of it all and plenty of french fries on the side. There you have it - 1200 calories of bread, meat, melted cheese, beer, wine and french fries - a francesinha. Brazil's latest gift from the mother country; the delight of Brazilian gluttons and gourmands and the despair of nutritionists and doctors throughout the country.

If you're brave enough to face down a francesinha, we'll tell you how to make one, including the special sauce, in our next post.