For our return to Portugal, nothing better than starting with one of the master pieces of portuguese cuisine, the "posta mirandesa" (Mirandese stake). We took the opportunity of a small holiday in Trás-os-Montes, the north-easternmost province of Portugal, to return to a cherished memory of a previous visit to the land beyond the Marão mountain, the O Abel restaurant in Gimonde. Gimonde is a small village about 5 km out of Bragança, on the road to Quintanilha and to the Spanish border.
As you drive into Gimonde, the O Abel is found on the left side of the road and can easily be identified on only by the large name sign but also by the terrace beside the large grill where they cook the local delicacies. As soon as we parked the car, the smell of grilled meat flooded our senses. Impressive on the grill, we could see huge t-bone stakes and the mythical "postas mirandesas", huge lumps of red meat from the Mirandese cattle, a typical race from north-east Portugal which in now becoming increasingly rare. For an ample dinner for two we only needed:
Starters
Bread
Butter
Olives
Main course
"Posta mirandesa" (Mirandese stake)
A single serving of "posta mirandesa" was more than enough for two, being wealthly accompanied by delicious home made French fries. As soon as we started cutting the meat it became obvious how tender it was. When we brought the first piece to our mounths... the taste was indescribable. The texture, the flavour, everything was perfect in that piece of meat, which was only seasoned with a little bit of salt.
The Portuguese cuisine is just like this, without complex recipes. All that is required are top quality products and simple processes to produce unique gastronomic experiences. A nice red wine would probably have been a nice complement to our dinner, but we only had water, very cool water because the warm August night was well above 30 degrees.
Price: 9 euros/person
Address: Gimonde, Bragança 5300-533
Phone number: +351 273382555
Map:
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