Name: Pork & Clams, Alentejo Style (Porco à Alentejana)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Portuguese
Ingredients: 1 onion, finely chopped; 3 tablespoons chopped parsley; 2 cloves; 1 kg/2¼ lb live cockles or small clams; 125 g/4½ oz good-quality lard; 2 bay leaves; 1 heaped teaspoon paprika, preferably smoked; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 3–4 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 75 ml/2⅓ fl oz olive oil; 500 g/1 lb 2 oz lean pork (leg or loin) cut into 2cm/¾inch dice; 500 g/1 lb 2 oz belly pork, cut into 2cm/¾-inch dice; 1 generous tablespoon tomato purée; ½ bottle of white wine

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Eagle Cookbook

By David Eyre

Published 2009

About

Although it is from the south of the country, this dish is a great favourite with all Portuguese and, while the idea might sound a little wacky, I guarantee it will become a favourite of yours as well. It is typically cooked in a cataplana – a unique cooking vessel in the form of two copper bowls that are hinged rather like a giant clam shell – which can be used on the stove, in the oven or even in a fire. I invariably make it in a heavy saucepan with a tightly fitting lid. The Portu