Moura de Vila Real

Description: Sausage consisting of bread, garlic vine meat, cooking syrup of meats of various species (beef, poultry and pork) and blood, seasoned with salt, paprika, pepper, wine and garlic. Stuffed in slender pork casing and smoked. It has a dark brown or black color and a pasty consistency' It is horseshoe-shaped and weighs about 150 g.

Region: North.

Other denominations: Moira. Moura de Calda Quente.

Particularity: Filled with blood, bread and meat, dark in color.

History: Few written references are known. It is known, however, that Trás-os-Montes gastronomy has a marked feminine character. The great extension of the region, the multiple microclimates and the nature of the soils give the Trás-os-Montes wines a great vigor and a strong personality. In interviews conducted in 1977 with artisanal producers in the municipalities of Alijó, Murça, Régua, Sabrosa, Santa Marta de Penaguião, Vila Pouca de Aguiar and Vila Real, all the interviewees (3 per parish) manufactured the Moiras.

Use: Preferably enjoyed cooked, Moura can be eaten fried or roasted in main meals. It goes into typical dishes (Moura rice and Portuguese stew). Consumed mainly in winter, it is typical at Carnival.

Know-how: The meat is cut into 2 to 4 cm pieces and placed in a vine seasoning for 5 to 6 days. The bread, cut into slices, is softened with the broth for cooking the meats (seasoned with salt, parsley, garlic and bay leaf), adding some cooked and shredded meat, the meat of vinha-d'alhos, the beaten blood and seasoned with wine and salt, the paprika and pepper. Fill the thin pork casing with that paste and tie it in the shape of a horseshoe. The Fates are then subjected to smoking for a few days.

Source: Produtos Tradicionais Portugueses, Lisboa, DGDR, 2001