The Francesinha – One of the most famous sandwiches in the world!
One of the stories or legends, dates back to the period of the Peninsular Wars, supposedly the soldiers of Napoleon’s army used to make a bread sandwich where they put the most varied kinds of meat available and a lot of cheese, but without including the sauce, an essential complement introduced later by the “tripeiros” (citizens of Porto).
Today there is some unanimity in attributing the creation of the recipe to Daniel Silva, an employee of the restaurant A Regaleira, in the early 50’s. An immigrant in France and Belgium, some years earlier, in the restaurant business, he became familiar with the local gastronomy and in particular with the famous French sandwich “croque-monsieur”, very popular in these lands. This famous sandwich served as inspiration for the creation of our francesinha, whose name comes from “france”.
Here is a selection (possible), of the best restaurants in invicta and surroundings, to taste the “famous” sandwich:
- A Regaleira, rua do Bonjardim 83 (ainda existe!)
- LADO B Café (Coliseu) – rua de Passos Manuel, 190
- Brasão – rua de Ramalho Ortigão, 28
- Café Santiago – rua de Passos Manuel, 226
- Bufete FASE – rua Santa Catarina, 1147
- Restaurante CUFRA – Avenida da Boavista, 2504. (ou Edifício Transparente)
- AR de RIO (Cais de Gaia) – Av. de Diogo Leite, 5. Vila Nova de Gaia
- Restaurante My Palace – Avenida da Boavista, 4191
- Capa Negra II – Rua do Campo Alegre, 191