Francesinha-The Sandwich of ALL Sandwiches

And the winner for best drunk food goes to… Portugal!

Tell them what they’ve won! Well Charlie, the cure for a bad hangover followed by an early death from heart disease!

While on my latest trip to Portugal, I discovered the Francesinha, which as I understand it, translates to a giant meat sandwich, topped with an enchilada-like sauce, cheese, and oh yes folks, a fried egg, surrounded by French fries which you drown in the sauce. Some call it heaven, some call it gluttony; the Portuguese call it the Francesinha.

According to wikipedia, a Francesinha is:
Two pieces of white bread, filled with sausage, deli ham (bologna will do), a grilled fillet of chicken, pork, or beef (actually you can have more than one but…you may die).
Take the sandwich broil cheese on top (let’s say cheddar) until its completely covered, like nachos, and sauce it. The sauce is apparently made from a mixture of beer and tomato sauce, but I’ll bet they use chili, paprika, and adobo too. If I were you I’d just cheat and use canned enchilada sauce.
Though not all come with a fried egg, ours did, and really I say, if you’re going to try it, hell, go all out. Besides I’m a sucker for a fried egg.

When you think about it, the Francesinha is everything the FDA and heath police has convinced us to think of as the devil- white bread, bologna, eating different meats with cheese, a fried egg, and French fries. But we’re only young once, and that’s how often I recommend you eat it- once.

To be quite honest, I only tried the dish. My boyfriend ordered it, ate it, and then proclaimed he could eat a second one (Mind you, my boyfriend is the size of my thigh, lucky bastard with his high metabolism). Moreover, when he ordered it, neither of us knew what to expect. Despite speaking Spanish and Gallego (which is a language of Spain which mixes Portuguese and Spanish) my beau couldn’t make sense of the menu and neither could I for that matter.

Hoping to clarify, the waiter played a lil game of charades with us. First he pointed to my boyfriend and grunts while flexing his body to make himself appear big and strong. As if to say, this dish is for men. He then points out another item, which I guess is a salad, and gestures towards me, small and light like a woman with his hands. Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, we took his suggestion and were happily surprised when our meals came.

Now that you know the contents of this monster of a sandwich you may very well decide to try making it at home. However, if you like to travel and ever find yourself in Portugal, I highly recommend giving the Francesinha a try. Though, should you dare, take your time. Savor it as if it were your last meal because all jokes aside, it just may be ;-p)