Migas Gatas

Description: Characteristic dish of the Alentejo made with slices of stale bread softened in hot water and cooked in olive oil, until a dry and consistent ball is obtained, with a slightly golden outer crust.

Particular characteristics: Also called olive oil migas, in which this vegetable fat replaces lard.

Region: Alentejo.

Ingredients used: Bread, garlic, olive oil and salt.

Preparation: Cut the bread into thin slices that are placed in a clay pot. Add the crushed garlic cloves, season with coarse salt and drizzle with boiling water. They muffle each other so that the bread softens. After a few minutes, drain the water and crush the bread with a wooden spoon. A pit is then made in the center and the oil is poured there. Bring the pan to the heat and, always with the wooden spoon, arrange the migas in the shape of a ball. When you get this ball, the migas are ready.

Know-how: They are usually made to make use of stale bread. In this case, the bread is soaked, drained and squeezed afterwards. There are variants of this recipe: you can add boiled and shredded cod and a little vinegar, or breadcrumbed eggs.

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, 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.