The flour-covered hands of the woman move quickly, punching and shaping the hefty little cylinders of dough. She prepares the pão chouriço each morning for the compact shop on the praça across from the market in Praia das Maçãs. Known to most only by its banner across the front: Há Pão Quente (Hot Bread Here), the shop opens on weekends and holidays and random days to serve its homemade breads and cakes, along with a modest selection of drinks and beer. The congenial proprietor helps you find the right thing, along with a bit of a friendly Portuguese lesson, if you’re willing.
Pão chouriço runs like a common thread throughout Portugal. In nearly every market, you can find a stand serving out the warm rolls of country bread filled with chunks of chouriço, the piquant hard sausage that’s also ubiquitous. Along the road in pull-outs and empty lots, more pão chouriço flows from food trucks as a fast, tasty, and cheap snack. For €1.50, you get a filling treat that can make up the heart of a picnic, or a serious post-run refueling. Of course, a cold Sagres (another €1.50 or less) complements the salty, yeasty loaf well.
Há Pão Quente, Avenida Eugene Levy LJ 4
Praia das Maçãs 2705-306 Colares