Lisbon is a group of villages with a set of influences. This can be seen in the music that comes from regions like Beiras, Minho and Alentejo, as well as India and Bangladesh. The same can be said for gastronomy – different cultures brought new things to the city, and, for historical reasons, a variety of products became established. As such, Lisbon gastronomy was always been a mixture of what people brought from the North and South of the country, as well as from abroad. Much of this cuisine naturally included meat and fish.

Lisbon served as a trading post for products, where everything was used. This meant nose to tail eating, especially in the local taverns (tascas): gizzards, sweetbreads, pork scratching sandwiches, kidneys, even hearts were being eaten all over the city and, then, over time, this aspect started to disappear.

This Lisbon of extensive internal and external migration has produced a range of influences that still thrives but which has changed over the years. This very symbolic recipe, a clove-studded heart, represents a Lisbon that is both old and new.