8. Portugal
Eaten two, perhaps three times a week, salt cod or bacalhau, is a staple of the Portuguese diet and eaten far more than piri-piri chicken! Seafood in general is abundant, owing to its long stretch of coastline. Red mullet, octopus and tuna all appear regularly on menus, as well as pork, cooked ‘confit-style’. Black Iberian pigs are bred in oak forests and fed on acorns along the Spanish border. Desserts-wise, pastéis de nata (a creamy custard cup) is perhaps the best known, and features on menus across the world, particularly in the Far-East. It began life in a bakery in the Bélem region of Lisbon, and can be found on many a street corner across Portugal. Simple but delicious!
