Bifana (with a Luxembourgish twist)

Bifana is a traditional Portuguese sandwich made with marinated pork slices, seasoned with garlic, paprika and white wine and served with an obligatory dollop of mustard. It’s a typical lunchtime snack and you will find Bifana stalls at all Portuguese market halls throughout the country.

No wonder then, that my friend Claude took me to eat a bifana after we visited Sétubal’s Mercado do Livramento (one of the biggest markets in Portugal). I was quite baffled when our order came with a squeezy bottle of Luxembourgish mustard! Claude confided in me that he eats his bifana here every weekend, and that’s why they keep his bottle behind the counter – much to the delight of many Portuguese customers, who enjoy the flavour of our Luxembourgish mustard too.

So, of course I had to include this in my show ‘Bom Dia Anne’. You can watch the episode here.

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Ingredients

6 small and thin pork loin cutlets
3 garlic cloves
½ tsp paprika powder
a pinch of chili powder
180ml white wine
2 sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp olive oil
15 g butter, cold
Salt and pepper

2 bread rolls
Luxembourgish mustard

Method

Makes 2

Put the pork into a tupperware. Bash and peel the garlic cloves (leaving them whole) and add to the pork along with the paprika and chili powder, white wine, thyme and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper, mix well, cover with a lid and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Take the pork cutlets out of the marinade (keep the marinade) and fry for a couple of minutes on each side until browned.

Add the marinade and the garlic cloves to the pan and cook for 5 minutes until the sauce has reduced.

Stir through the butter and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Cut open the bread rolls. Put 3 slices of pork onto each roll and squeeze some mustard on top.

Serve immediately.