Estoril, Portimão and 365 Ways with Cod

Portugal has hosted 18 Grands Prix across four circuits, and its Atlantic kitchen pairs salt cod and sardines with spices gathered on centuries of voyages.

The Portuguese Grand Prix has arrived and departed in distinct eras. It first counted toward the World Championship in 1958 on the Boavista street circuit in Porto, which hosted again in 1960, with the Monsanto Park Circuit taking the race in between in 1959. After a long gap, the Circuito do Estoril near Cascais held it every year from 1984 to 1996, and in 2020 and 2021 the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve at Portimão brought it back. Our records count 18 Portuguese Grands Prix in all.

Portugal's drivers have been few and determined. Tiago Monteiro made 37 starts in 2005 and 2006, Pedro Lamy 32 between 1993 and 1996, and Mário de Araújo Cabral raced at intervals from 1959 to 1964. A first Portuguese Grand Prix win is still to come in our records.

Portuguese cooking faces the Atlantic: fish and shellfish, pork and beef, cabbage and greens, beans, rice, potatoes and good bread. Olive oil is the foundation, garlic and onion are everywhere, and bay, parsley and coriander are used with a free hand. The seafaring past lives on in the spice jar, from fiery piri piri peppers to cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, which turn up in savory dishes and desserts alike. Salted cod, bacalhau, is the most eaten fish, and the saying goes that there is a way to cook it for every day of the year, which makes it the rare fish with a calendar of its own.

Meals follow a steady rhythm, with soup at both lunch and dinner and a pastry with coffee at the café in the morning. For a race weekend, a pot of caldo verde, a tray of grilled sardines and a box of custard tarts make a fine Portuguese table.

A taste of Portugal

• Caldo verde, Potato and shredded greens soup with chouriço
• Bacalhau à Brás, Salt cod with straw potatoes and eggs
• Bifana, Garlic and wine marinated pork sandwich
• Sardinhas assadas, Salt grilled sardines on bread
• Cataplana de marisco, Algarve steamed clams, shrimp and chouriço
• Francesinha, Cheese covered meat sandwich in beer sauce
• Galão, Lisbon milky coffee in a glass
• Porto tónico, White port and tonic
• Pastel de nata, Portuguese custard tarts

Circuits

• Boavista Circuit
• Monsanto Park Circuit
• Circuito do Estoril
• Autódromo Internacional do Algarve

Drivers

• Tiago Monteiro
• Pedro Lamy
• Mário de Araújo Cabral
• Pedro Chaves
• Casimiro De Oliveira
• fernando cabral