Portugal is a country you taste long after you have left. Beyond the pastéis de nata and the bottles of port, there is a whole world of artisanal products, cured, tinned, aged and bottled, that locals have cherished for centuries and that make the most memorable souvenirs of all. Here are five Portuguese gourmet treasures worth saving space in your suitcase for, and one little Lisbon shop where you can find them all under one roof.
1. Muxama, Portugal’s ham of the sea
Often called the ham of the sea, muxama is one of Portugal’s best-kept culinary secrets. Made from salted and dried tuna loins, a technique over a thousand years old, it is intensely savoury and unlike anything else you will have tasted. At POP, it comes in elegant vacuum-sealed tubes, sourced personally from a quality Algarve producer. Sliced thin, drizzled with olive oil, it travels beautifully and impresses every time.
-> Read our full guide to muxama in Lisbon
2. Conservas Tricana, tinned fish elevated to an art form
Forget whatever you think you know about tinned fish. POP carries a full range of Tricana, one of Portugal’s finest artisanal canneries: sardines in olive oil, in tomato, smoked, with lemon, fillets of mackerel, tuna with vegetables. Each tin a different flavour, each one made with the same care that has made Tricana a reference for connoisseurs. The vintage-inspired packaging is beautiful enough to display, but the contents are the real reason to buy.
3. A bottle of Portuguese natural wine
POP’s wine selection is the heart of the shop: natural wines from small Portuguese producers, chosen personally by owner Elliot. Whites from the Lisbon region, structured reds from Bairrada, rare amber wines from the Alentejo fermented in ancient clay amphorae. From crisp and mineral to complex and age-worthy, a carefully chosen bottle is a souvenir you will actually want to open.
-> Discover our guide to Portuguese natural wine
4. Chocolat Bonnat, grand cru chocolate
One of the most unexpected treasures on POP’s shelves: Chocolat Bonnat, a legendary French master chocolatier whose single-origin bars are made from the finest cacao in the world. Côte d’Ivoire, Ceylan, Madagascar, Cuba, Cacao Cusco: each bar comes from a specific origin, with its own flavour profile. Rare outside France, and a gift that will impress any chocolate lover.
5. Pantry treasures: jams, honey and flor de sal
For something light to carry but full of flavour, POP’s pantry shelves hold an extraordinary range of artisan preserves: jams in rare combinations (tomato, grapefruit, plum, raspberry, apple jelly, fig, peach, pumpkin and walnut), Gorreana teas from the oldest tea plantation in Europe, grown in the Azores, and flor de sal hand-harvested from Portuguese salt pans. Small luxuries that bring the flavours of Portugal into your everyday life long after the trip is over.
Where to find them all: POP, in Graça
All five of these products, and dozens more, are on the shelves at POP, a wine and gourmet store in the Graça neighbourhood run by two Frenchmen who fell in love with Portugal and its producers. Unlike the tourist shops of the Baixa, where the same generic brands fill the same shelves, every product at POP has been sourced personally and tasted before it was stocked. Owner Elliot will guide you to exactly what suits your taste, and you can taste before you buy, glass in hand, at prices that reflect a neighbourhood shop rather than a tourist attraction.
Just a hundred metres from the Miradouro da Senhora do Monte, one of the most beautiful viewpoints in Lisbon. Pick up your gourmet souvenirs, then wander up for the sunset over the city.
POP, Rua da Senhora do Monte 38C, Graça, Lisbon. Open daily from 2pm.