Português 
English (UK) 
Description: Characteristic dish of the Alentejo made with slices of stale bread softened in hot water and cooked in fat (resulting from the frying of pork) until a dry and consistent ball is obtained, with a lightly browned outer crust. Served with fried meat.
Special characteristics: When the migas are wrapped in a golden and thin crust, they are greased with the pingo, fat resulting from the frying of the meats. Migas can become crumbs or curled.
Region: Alentejo.
Ingredients used: Pork (loin, ribs, spare ribs and bacon), bread, garlic, red pepper paste, lard and salt.
Preparation: Season the pork the day before, spread with the crushed garlic and the red pepper paste. In a fire bowl (glazed clay bowl, narrow at the base and wide at the top) or deep frying pan, fry the meats and bacon, adding a little water to keep it from burning. The meats are removed as they brown. The fat (dripping) resulting from the frying of the meats is passed through a sieve. Pour the bread cut into slices into the bowl, drizzle with a little boiling water and immediately beat it with a wooden spoon, crushing it. Temper with the necessary dripping, beating the migas. These should be well seasoned but not soaked in fat. Shake the bowl over the heat, rolling the migas in a thick omelette.
Know-how: There are variants of this recipe: migas may not necessarily be rolled. In that case, they can be served with slices of fried bread and orange segments. The garlic cloves can be fried in the dripped and removed before adding the bread.
Forms of commercialization: Restaurants.
Product availability throughout the year: All year round.
Product history: With the arrival of Muslims to the Iberian Peninsula at the beginning of the eighth century, açorda also arrived, both among its cultural and gastronomic habits of the Arabs, and even as a custom disseminated in the emulation of the Prophet Mohammed. In the two known treatises on Spanish-Arab cuisine of the time, there are several recipes for dishes classified as thurûd, açordas. In some of these recipes, the bread is treated in order to produce a kind of migas, that is, the bread is cooked in order to produce a paste (Rei, 2016).
Representativeness in local food: Dish of the vast family of migas, present in any home in the region.
Source: DGADR, based on "Cozinha Tradicional Portuguesa", Maria De Lourdes Modesto, 1982, Verbo Editora, “Cozinha Tradicional do Alentejo - a memória dos temperos", Maria Antónia Goes, 2014, Colares Editora, Carta Gastronómica do Alentejo - Monumenta Transtaganae Gastronómica (Confraria Gastronómica do Alentejo, 2013), e Rei, António (2016), A Açorda. Uma sopa de pão, da Alta Idade Média à atualidade, IEM /FCSH – Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
Photo: Provided by MINHA TERRA – Federação Portuguesa de Associações de Desenvolvimento Local.
