A flavoursome adventure through Portugal's cuisine and culture

Brought to you by National Geographic

In the new season of Uncharted, renowned chef Gordon Ramsay heads to Nazaré, Portugal, to experience the culture, food, life and adventure that the south-western European country has to offer.

With an ethos rooted in simplicity, Portuguese cuisine features ingredients that speak for themselves, as outlined throughout this enthralling and must-watch episode. Ramsay dives headfirst into understanding the origins of everything food-related that the rugged and beautiful landscape has to offer.

The seaside town of Nazaré

According to Visit Portugal, the official tourism website of the country, Nazaré is a fishing town that tourists flock to in the summer.

With fishing at the helm of the small town, walking through the streets you will often find fishsellers with their catch of the day sprawled out and ready for purchase. Other key characteristics of the sea element can be found in the local handicrafts as locals produce fishnets, woven baskets, buoys and other items.

A flavoursome adventure through Portugal's cuisine and culture — Portugal – Gordon Ramsay works on his fresh sardine dish during the final cook in Portugal. (Credit: National Geographic/Justin Mandel)

All about adventure and flavour

Nazaré has a strong emphasis on shellfish dishes such as fish casseroles, soups and dried horse mackerel. Starting off strong, Gordon braves the rough terrain of the rocky ocean shores to collect barnacles. As uncontrolled waves hit the shores, he attempts to collect these barnacles, which are reportedly worth €100 per kilogram.

Portugal is well known for its seafood offering, with tourists from across the world flocking to their shores to taste their freshly sourced seafood.

With the Atlantic Ocean at the focal point of Portuguese cuisine and culture, many of its dishes are representative of fresh sea flavours, such as cataplana de marisco, a seafood stew recipe that originates from the south of Portugal, and polvo à lagareiro, a common and traditional dish that is made with octopus.

Gordon’s explorations of Portugal’s cuisine and culture also take him to a pig farm to see first-hand how the black pigs of Nazaré are farmed. With black pork being an integral part of the cuisine in Portugal, it features in multiple dishes such as chouriço de porco preto, which means black chorizo, and porco alenttejana, which merges the two favoured ingredients clam and pork.

Portugal is synonymous with pastei de natas, also known as Portuguese custard tarts. Since the European country has a strong love of desserts, other popular sweet treat food options include the pão de ló, a sponge cake with a soft and creamy filling. On his trip, Gordon visits a bakery in Nazaré that has been open for over a century to see first-hand how this iconic sponge cake is prepared.

Ready to explore more of what Nazaré has to offer? Tune in to National Geographic, DStv Channel 181, on Wednesday 15 September at 9pm.