Sandes de pernil
Photo: Casa Guedes · CC BY 3.0

History

Casa Guedes on Praca dos Poveiros opened in 1987 when the Correia brothers took over an older snack bar; their slow-roasted pernil shredded into a fofo roll grew slowly until a 2008 Time Out Porto cover pushed it into citywide canon. The second-site overflow at numbers 76 to 80 opened in 2019 to handle the queues. The Serra da Estrela cheese upgrade, melted on top, is the version locals defend.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 6Hands-on 30 minTotal 5 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg pork shoulder or leg, skin on
  • 6 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 200ml white wine
  • 200ml chicken stock
  • Olive oil
  • 6 fofo bread rolls (or soft sandwich rolls)
  • Serra da Estrela cheese (or any soft sheep's-milk cheese), sliced

Method

  1. Rub the pork with salt, paprika, sliced garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Marinate 1 hour minimum, overnight ideally.
  2. Sear the pork on all sides in a hot pan, then transfer to a roasting tin with the bay leaves and pour over white wine and stock.
  3. Roast at 160C for 4 hours, basting every 45 minutes, until the meat shreds with a fork.
  4. Rest 20 minutes. Shred the pork with two forks, retaining the cooking juices.
  5. Slice each roll in half. Pile shredded pork into the roll and spoon over some of the juices.
  6. Top with a slice of Serra cheese and close the roll. Serve immediately with napkins.

Tip from the editors. If you cannot find Serra da Estrela, any soft semi-aged sheep's-milk cheese works; do not use cheddar or aged hard cheeses, which break the texture.

Where to eat sandes de pernil

Sandes de pernil in Porto

Casa Guedes Tradicional ★ 4.5

€ Portuguese (sandwiches)Baixa

Casa Guedes on Praca dos Poveiros in Porto has pulled roast pork leg into a soft fofo roll since 1987, with optional Serra da Estrela cheese melted on top.

OrderSandes de pernil com queijo da Serra, glass of vinho verde.

TipOpen daily, kitchen runs continuous service. A second site at 76 to 80 handles the overflow on Saturdays.

Directions

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