What are typical Portugese habits, food customs and remarkable philosophies?

What are the customs in Portugal regarding food?

• Eating is a social occasion in Portugal, lunch is between 12 and 3 pm and can easily last 2 to 3 hours. Portuguese cuisine is Mediterranean, with typical Portuguese influences. Bread, cheese, pork and fish are the main ingredients of every Portuguese meal.

What are the best recipes in Portugal?

• A lot of fish is eaten, which is not surprising given the coastline of 850 kilometers. Popular fish dishes are the bacalhau recipes used to prepare dried cod. It is said that there is a bacalhau recipe for every day of the year. Besides dried cod, grilled sardines and caldeirada, stew with potato and different types of fish, are favorites. The Portugese love their meat as well: chicken piri-piri or arroz de sarrabulho (rice with pigblood).
• Bacalhau is salted cod. Bacalhau is more than a fish dish: in Portugal it is linked to myths, history and tradition. Nowadays most cod is imported from Scandinavia, but the demand for it has not decreased.
• Bollo de arroz: A kind of cake that together with a cup of coffee forms the Portuguese breakfast.
• Portuguese sweets such as ‘Pastéis de Tentugal’ are almost all made from egg and are loved by Portuguese and tourists.
   

What are the best drinks in Portugal?

• Coffee is a fixed part of the Portuguese breakfast. The price is low and the quality is good.
• A visit to Porto is not complete without one or more glasses of white or red port.
• Vinho verde is a light green wine.
• Ginja - The liqueur is always served in a shot glass, with a spirit at the bottom. 

What are notable holidays and festivals in Portugal?

• About 80 to 85% of the Portuguese population is Catholic. Most holidays are therefore based on Christian holidays, such as Christmas, Easter and Ascension Day. At Easter, every Portuguese city sees beautiful processions, with floats decorated with flowers. 
• Most towns and villages in Portugal have their own traditional festas or romarias. Romarias are local religious festivals that honor the saints of a particular area in Portugal.
• Queima das Fitas: Coimbra’s students celebrate the end of the academic year in the first week of May with parties, concerts and exhibitions.
• Festo de Santo António is on 12 and 13 June. Lisbon’s favourite saint is honoured with all-night parties in the city streets.
• Festa de São João: Porto and Braga in northern Portugal ‘go wild’ in June in honour of Saint Juan, with fireworks, concerts, campfires and lots of noise.
• Medieval Festival: The medieval market in the still-walled town of Óbido is the place for two weeks of sword fighting, singing minstrels, roasted pigs and spirits in July.
• Festival de Sudoeste: One of Portugal's biggest music festivals takes place every August in the coastal town of Zambujeira do Mar.

What are notable habits in Portugal?

• The Portuguese are traditional and conservative. Innovation and major changes within the family or community are not easily accepted. Life in Portugal revolves around the family and even now in the 21st century, old customs and traditions can be seen daily.
• Time is relative and being late for appointments is very common. 
• Fado is a typical Portuguese music movement from the 19th century and the life song of the locals. While Fado used to be popular only in bars and brothels of the poorer neighborhoods in Lisbon and Coimbra, nowadays it is very popular and you come across it in many places.
• Typically Portuguese are azulejos, Portuguese tiles that you find a lot on and in railway stations, churches and houses. Often they are blue and white, but they can also be richly colored.