Farinheira Raiana

Description: Regional sausage made from wheat bread, water from cooking the bones, crushed fat, meat from the bones, olive oil, on-ion, condiments (cinnamon, salt, bay leaf, garlic, sweet paprika and spicy paprika), stuffed in cow's casing. It has a length of 25 to 35 cm, a diameter of 2,5 to 3,5 cm and a weight of 150 to 250 g.

Region: Center.

Particularity: Sausage with a horseshoe shape, semi-soft consistency, with a tendency to expand when cooked and cut into round slices, cinnamon and spicy flavor and dark orange color.

History: It is a typical sausage of this area, of the municipalities of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo and Almeida, and its characteristics have been known for decades by the elderly people of the region. It is therefore difficult to establish the origin of the confection of this product, although in a 1969 edition on the uses and customs of a municipality in this region, farinheiras are mentioned as part of the population's diet.

Use: Consumed cooked, as an accompaniment to dishes of the traditional cuisine of the region.

Know-how: Wheat bread broken into thin slices, softened with the hot water from cooking the bones that have been previously seasoned with salt, bay leaf and garlic. Crush everything by hand and add boiled olive oil with bay leaf, sweet paprika, spicy paprika and chopped onion. Add cinnamon to taste and, finally, the crushed pork fats. Fill the cow's gut, tie it at the ends and go to the smokehouse (with oak and chestnut wood) for 1 to 2 weeks.

Source: Produtos Tradicionais Portugueses, Lisboa, DGDR, 2001