Portugal Things to Do

This is a particularly family-focused time in Portugal with a big meal on Christmas Eve, gifts exchanging, then on to Midnight Mass. On Christmas Eve the generations of the family gather together in front of the nativity scene, the presepio, to celebrate the birth of Jesus. A traditional supper might consist of boiled bacalhua (salt cod), with boiled potatoes and cabbage. There’s also arroz doce (rice pudding), rabanadas (similar to French toast), filhoses (fried dessert) and broas de mel (honey cakes).