Feira do Fumeiro - Vinhais

This is a list of smoked foods. Smoking is the process of flavoring, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Foods have been smoked by humans throughout history. Meats and fish are the most common smoked foods,
Smoked meat is a method of preparing red meat (and fish) which originates in prehistory. Its purpose is to preserve these protein-rich foods, which would otherwise spoil quickly, for long periods. There are two mechanisms for this preservation: dehydration and the antibacterial properties of absorbed smoke. In modern days, the enhanced flavor of smoked foods makes them a delicacy in many cultures.
Sausage is a food usually made from ground meat with a skin around it. Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made from intestine, but sometimes synthetic. Sausage making is a traditional food preservation technique. Sausages may be preserved by curing, drying, or smoking. Many types and varieties of sausages are smoked to help preserve them and to add flavor.
The alheira (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐˈʎejɾɐ]) is a type of Portuguese sausage, made with meats other than pork (usually veal, duck, chicken, quail or rabbit) and bread.
Although alheira derives from alho (garlic) and was once used to describe any sausage seasoned with it, not all present-day alheiras contain garlic, although it is still a common ingredient.
The type of sausage that became known as "alheira" was invented by the Jews of Portugal, who were given the choice of either being expelled from the country in 1497 unless they converted to Christianity. Those who converted but secretly retained their beliefs avoided eating pork, forbidden in Judaism; this put them at risk of being noticed not to hang sausages, traditionally made of pork, in their fumeiros (smokehouses). As a way to avoid attracting the attention of the Portuguese Inquisition or in rural areas the portuguese Christians they did make sausages, but with other meats, such as poultry and game, mixed with bread for texture. This recipe later spread amongst Christians. cf Wiki,