Begin you culinary journey around Porto with ‘bacalhau’, or dried and salted cod. It is served in a bewildering variety of ways. One of the best known is ‘Bacalhau à Gomes Sá’, oven baked with onion, olive and potato. With other names come other delicious recipes such as ‘à Zé do Pipo’, ‘à João do Buraco’ or ‘à João do Porto’.

If you like meat, try the bean based ‘orelheira com feijão’, the ‘arroz de cabrito’ goat and rice dish or the excellent game stock and rice ‘arroz de cabidela’, accompanied by smoked sausage.

And there is also the historical city favourite, tripe ‘à moda do Porto’. This traditional recipe has been around for so long that the inhabitants of this city have become known as ‘tripeiros’ or ‘tripers’.

Give it a try, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

For an evening meal, the rich sauce of ‘Francesinha’ is a must, a combination of bread, steak, smoked and fresh sausage and cheese. This Porto speciality is a firm local favourite.

And to accompany such delicious food come the wines of the Douro. The course of this northern river is dotted with the finest vineyards, and there is nowhere better than OPrto to try some excellent local wine.

For dessert, opt for the local toasted ‘creme queimado’ rice pudding or, particularly around the Christmas season, fried cinnamon ‘Rabanada’ fritters.