Francesinha is a Portuguese sandwich, originally from Porto, made with bread, cured ham, sausage, steak or roast meat, and covered with melted cheese and a hot thick tomato-and-beer sauce. Commonly served with french fries, it is an adaptation of the French croque-monsieur.~ ~ ~
After leaving my host's house in the southern part of Porto, (where I already had a hefty vegan breakfast), I went hunting for francesinha despite the fact that I was already pretty stuffed. It was going to be my last day in the city, and I was not going to leave until I had tried this dish. I suppose you could find it in other parts of Portugal too, but I doubt it would be the same. Nothing could beat trying something in its place of origin.
The typical price for a francesinha was 7 euros and above, depending on the location and how fancy the restaurant was. After much walking, I found one that sold francesinha for only 6 euros (still expensive by my standards, but I had to remind myself that I was in Europe). The cafe was at a non-touristic place. The waitress/cafe owner spoke no English, but we managed to communicate by means of sign language and my elementary Spanish. The other customers (two old grandpas) greeted me warmly and even tried to teach me some Portuguese.
Soon after, my order arrived. The sandwich was huge and thick. At first glance, it looked like a square-shaped lasagna in a pool of red sauce. But when I sliced the top layer of cheese, egg yolk spilled out. So there was a poached/fried egg hiding in there somewhere. What a pleasant surprise. There was a generous portion of ham and meatloaves too.
