Birth of Portugal's Greatest Sandwich
How the prego became a Portuguese icon
Born Again Series - Dedicated to legendary dishes invented by famous chefs or humble individuals.
The reason for “Again” in the title above is that all these invention stories are disputed - including this one, but that makes for good storytelling!
In this series, we collaborate with wine afficionados for the perfect pairing. Today’s dish is the Portuguese prego sandwich from Sintra, Portugal and our guest wine writer is Vicky Hampton from Truffles and Tannins
The Origin Story - A man named Prego popularised the prego at Taberna Prego in 1889
The prego started as the simplest of sandwiches in the 1880’s. At the time it was just beef tenderized with a hammer and drizzled with it’s own juices. At some point it became common to pound garlic cloves into the beef. Some say the sandwich was so named because prego means “nail” - but there is significant written and photographic evidence that the sandwich was created by Manuel Dias Prego in Sintra, Portugal. It became a hit at his restaurant Prego Tavern and evolved into an icon of Portuguese bars. Here is a fantastic photo Manuel Dias Prego in front of his tavern:
Over the decades, the prego evolved in innumerable ways including the addition of cheese, fried eggs, mustard and hot sauce. So what is a prego exactly? Here is a traditional version of the recipe from Portugal.com
For the Steak:
4 thin slices of beef (sirloin or tenderloin)
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste (Bonus points if you use Saldomar salt or Saloio olive oil, both products of Portugal)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
A dab of butter
4 Portuguese rolls or similar crusty bread
For the Marinade:
1/4 cup of Sagres or Superbock beer (or your local beer)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika to taste
Additional options: mustard, piri piri or hot sauce
In Lisbon, some say Ramirez is the best place to enjoy a prego but I would like to try one in it’s birthplace of Sintra. Can anyone recommend a spot in the comments?
Here is what Vicky thinks you should pair your prego with:
"The humble prego! Beloved affordable lunchtime staple or (in my case) the perfect hangover food. Some say us wine folk should not get hangovers because we remember to spit, but alas that’s a rule I frequently seem to forget. And while you might think beef = red wine, I believe hangover = bubbles. I’m thinking brunch wine: something light and effervescent to cut through the beef fat and butter and provide an airy counterpoint to all that much-needed bread stodge.
Portugal isn’t well-known internationally for its sparkling wines, but (of course) it has plenty of fantastic bubbles to offer. The Bairrada region – north of Lisbon but south of the Douro Valley, blessed with cooling Atlantic breezes – produces 60% of the country’s sparkling wines and is the obvious choice. Bairrada’s “Espumante” wines are generally made using the traditional method (with secondary fermentation in bottle, just like Champagne), which gives them that lovely creamy mouthfeel to temper the acidity.
Next time you order a prego, try this Primavera Reserve Brut made from 100% native grape Bical: toasty and creamy with bright acidity from citrus and green apples. Perfect hair of the dog wine!"
Thanks Vicky. Subscribe to Truffles and Tannins!
Humble Parents - All our origin stories finish with me imagining what my future parents might look like. This lovely mom and dad are inspired by the humble photo above of the inventor of the prego from 1894.
This sandwich is so simple but - like many of the simplest things in life, sumptuous when done well. Meet my future parents:
And here is a photo of the original restaurant which will be my future childhood home:
Read about our previous origin story: Chef Nobu’s Black Cod Miso
Name a food in the comments and I will write an origin story about it!
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