Alexandrina Fernandes still remembers the taste of the ham steak, grilled and eaten between two slices of bread that she got used to as a kid. “At that time, ham was only cured for a year, no more. There wasn’t enough technology for more,” she says. The tinea and flavors are much lighter, up to 3 months of texture that they consume today, which have cured. As Alexandrina grew up, in the village of Gimonde, in Trá-os-Montes, the knowledge to make a quality ham in Portugal also evolved.

The third generation of a family that has been producing hams and other sausages since the 1930s, Alexandrina is today one of the companies of Bísaro, an artisanal sausage shop that she manages with her brother and father to produce products from the Bísaro pig, native to the region. The grandparents started the story with a small grocery store, where they sold salpicão, chorizo, cachaço, among sausages. “I grew up behind the counters, ham has always been part of my gastronomic culture”, says Alexandrina.

This is an article from the weekly Expresso. Click ON HERE to continue reading.