We had this fantastic dish in a restaurant in Chaves and we loved it so much I just had to try it myself. It is now a firm favourite in our household. The recipe apparently originates in the Algarve, with the black pork coming from the Alentejo, hence the name. It is downright deeelicious!

The basic recipe consists of pork, potatoes, pickles and clams. I tend to leave out the clams as I don’t have easy access to them and feel they don’t add much to the dish, but do as you please. The first time I made it, I didn’t have any pickled vegetables, so I just added red peppers and vinegar, but the dish definitely benefits from pickled veggies. I will post a recipe for making your own pickled veggies which is so quick and easy you will never be without again.

I had pork chops so I just chopped them up and used them, but traditionally shoulder or rump is used. I’m a fan of using what I have, but do whatever makes you happy. I have put optional next to several spices. The version we had in Chaves was not spicy and was still tasty, so once again, you decide!

In the restaurant, the potatoes were deep fried, but I don’t have a deep fryer and prefer to fry potatoes in a couple of tablespoons of oil until browned. Both taste delicious, so it just depends on you again… I use olive oil and just make sure it doesn’t reach smoking point, but feel free to use any vegetable oil of your choice.

When everything is cooked, you mix it all together and serve immediately as otherwise the potatoes lose their crunch and start going soft. This is good too, but I recommend serving as soon as it’s mixed together.

Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
PORK
1 tsp paprika, sweet/Hungarian
1 tsp smoked paprika, opt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp red pepper flakes or chilli, opt
½ tsp ras-el-hanout, opt.
2 bay leaves
250ml white wine
500g pork, cubed (shoulder or rump)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
1 cup water
POTATOES
750g-1kg potatoes, peeled & cubed or sliced
Oil for frying the potatoes, see note above
PICKLED VEG
1 cup / 400g jar pickled vegetables, drained
CLAMS
500g clams, if using
1 tsp salt
TO SERVE
Fresh Cilantro / Coriander, optional

METHOD:

1. Mix all the pork ingredients together and marinade for about 2hours, or longer if you have time.
2. If using clams, put the clams in cold water with the salt and leave for one hour so that they can “spit out”/release any sand.
3. Saute the onion in the oil for a few minutes. Remove the pork from the marinade, but keep the marinade. Add the pork to the onion and saute 5-10 minutes.
4. Add the reserved marinade, the water and the clams, if using, and cook for a further 5 minutes.
5. In the meantime, heat the oil in a separate pan and fry the potatoes till cooked and nicely browned.
6. Make sure the table is set and everyone is ready to eat. Now, mix the pork and clams with the pickled veggies and the potatoes and serve immediately to avoid soggy potatoes.
And now sit back and enjoy this delicious Portuguese meal.