Cabrito da Beira

Cabrito da Beira is a Portuguese suckling kid goat with Protected Geographical Indication (Indicação Geográfica Protegida) registered in the EU for the interior mountain regions of central Portugal. The designation covers the meat of young kids of the Serrana and Preta de Montesinho breeds and their crosses, raised in the Beira Interior under the same suckling regime as the Alto Minho kid — fed only on maternal milk from birth to slaughter at 30–90 days of age.

The geography is what sets Beira kid apart: the Serra da Estrela, Serra da Lousã, Serra do Açor, and the schist villages of the Cova da Beira give the dams a diet of rockrose, lavender, broom, and aromatic herbs that translates into exceptionally tender, fragrant, almost herbal-tasting flesh. The classic dish is cabrito assado no forno a lenha, slow-roasted in a wood-fired oven with potatoes and a generous splash of Bairrada sparkling wine or Aguardente Velha to baste.

Cabrito da Beira is a fixture of Easter, Christmas, and village romarias across the Beira Interior. Eat it at restaurants in Covilhã, Guarda, Trancoso, Manteigas, and Sabugal; at the weekly markets of Seia and Fundão; and at traditional adegas throughout the Serra da Estrela. In Lisbon, try it at Tasca da Esquina and at Casa da Beira; in Porto, at Adega Regional and during the São João festival.