The world of Portuguese sourdough: the best artisanal bakeries in Portugal
Bread, in its many forms, is a universal staple – simple but so essential. It is a foundation of daily nutrition for cultures across the globe and, here in Portugal, it is an element traditionally present at every meal.
The origins of bread in Portugal trace back to ancient times. Already during the age of the Roman Empire, more than two thousand years ago, bread was a staple. This was in fact when wheat bread, somehow similar to what we most consume today, became commonplace as, until then, the much denser and more difficult to digest acorn bread was more usual. Besides propagating the cultivation of wheat, the Romans also introduced advanced bread-making techniques to the region, and their influence persists in the bread-making traditions of Portugal and Spain until today. For instance, the broa, a Portuguese cornbread, has its roots in Roman “panis quadratus” (pictured here), evolving through the centuries to incorporate native maize brought back from the Americas during the Age of Exploration.
Feat photo by Pão de Gimonde
Photo by World History Encyclopedia
Centuries later, the industrial revolution brought significant changes to bread production globally, including in Portugal. The shift from labor-intensive, artisanal methods to mechanized production meant that bread could be made faster and in greater quantities. However, this often came at the expense of flavor and nutritional value, especially because of the introduction of commercial yeast that came to replace sourdough starters.
As it often happens with other aspects of life, trends revolving around the world of bread are cyclical and, today, in contrast with recent history, we see the revival of ancient bread production methods, thanks to new businesses that care about bread’s flavor and nutritional integrity, best obtained following traditional slow fermentation methods. Sourdough bread can be fermented from several hours to a few days, and ends up developing a more complex flavor profile, which is robust and slightly tangy. Very importantly, slow fermentation doesn’t just result in a very satisfying taste, it also enhances the nutritional benefits of bread. In an age where gluten has been demonized by many, it’s also relevant to note that sourdough fermentation helps break down gluten and sugars, making the bread easier to digest and lowering its glycemic index. Furthermore, this process increases the availability of important nutrients, such as B vitamins and minerals like iron and zinc. All of this is particularly true when, not only the time and natural yeasts alone are responsible for the fermentation of bread, but also when good quality whole cereal flours have been used in the recipes.
The reverence for the grain is palpable in the hands of artisanal bakers, who often use locally sourced flours and combine them with historical Portuguese grains like Barbela wheat, reviving flavors that industrial processes nearly rendered obsolete.
These are some of the small-scale bakeries and artisans who are keeping the best of Portuguese baking traditions alive:
Pão de Gimonde
To eat some of the best bread in Portugal, one must travel to the small village of Gimonde, in the northern interior province of Trás-os-Montes. Pão de Gimonde was founded back in 1960, by the parents of baker and CEO Elisabete Ferreira, who is now the leader of this business. Elisabete’s work is all about preserving traditional recipes and methods but also researching in order to keep innovating and producing high quality bread in a realistic manner which makes sense now-a-days. This commitment to excellence was internationally recognized when Elisabete Ferreira became the first woman to win the World Baker of the Year award by the International Union of Bakers and Confectioners (UIBC) in 2024.
Pão de Gimonde follows artisanal processes, insisting on slow fermentation methods that enhance flavor and improve digestibility. The bakery zealously maintains the ‘true taste of yesteryear”, utilizing wood-fired ovens and high-quality, often locally sourced and forgotten ingredients like Trás-os-Montes’ rye (centeio) and buckwheat (trigo sarraceno).
Beyond its daily operations, Pão de Gimonde actively collaborates with universities and research institutions to innovate and continually improve their products. Elisabete and her team are also involved in initiatives to revive traditional cereals and promote a sustainable food culture, demonstrating a deep commitment not only to quality but also to culture and community.
One of the founding principles of Pão de Gimonde, which we deeply respect, is that quality bread should be accessible to everyone. This philosophy translates into their fair pricing which does not compromise quality, but also the bakery’s commitment to educating the community. Elisabete, a figure we deeply admire and who has become synonymous with quality bread in Portugal and even abroad, firmly believes that bread, a staple food in our country, should be celebrated and made available in a way that all can enjoy its nutritional and cultural value.
📍EN 218 N3798, 5300-553 Gimonde
Photo by Público
Pão & Pizza
Located in the heart of Alentejo, in the quaint village of Rosário, Alandroal, Pão & Pizza is actually a little more than a bakery, as it also operates as a full fledged restaurant. The specialities, though, are bread and pizzas – so the team behind this project sure knows how to handle dough.
Revitalizing an old bakery, Pão & Pizza has transformed it into a business and community hub that has been promoting connections amongst locals and visitors who come here to taste authentic artisanal bread made from natural sourdough starters and organic flours. The menu is a daily surprise, dictated by the season’s yield, showcasing a range of bread from vegetable-infused loaves to rich, nutty wheat breads.
Led by Anna de Brito, this venture has also embraced traditional baking techniques, using organic ingredients predominantly sourced from their own farm, Terramay. This close relationship between farm and table ensures peak freshness and minimal environmental impact. Pão & Pizza epitomizes the ‘field to fork’ spirit, where the journey of ingredients from harvesting to serving happens within hours. This approach not only supports local agriculture while evidently guaranteeing the freshness of the food served.
The vision for Pão & Pizza is clear: Anna aims to create a model where culinary practices support not only the health of individuals but also of the planet. Visitors to Pão & Pizza can expect a delicious culinary experience but going beyond taste, they’ll also be invited to take into consideration other aspects that have to do with nature and the community.
If you take the trip to Alandroal, we would recommend not only sampling Pão & Pizza’s range of breads, but also partaking in one of Terramay’s events and workshops, including day culinary workshops to longer wellness retreats. We find their “farm to bakery experience” particularly interesting in this context as, before tasting, visitors start their day at Terramay farm, learning about sustainable farming before heading to the actual bakery. This way, you will get a comprehensive overview of all that goes into making bread, from the very production of the cereals used to make the flour. We can guarantee you that, beyond the learning experience in itself, social and environmental consciousness never tasted this good.
📍Rua do Século 17, Rosário, 7250-203 Bolhas, Alandroal
Photo by Expresso
Padaria Brutalista
Padaria Brutalista in Coimbra, led by Patrícia Miguel Dias, represents a radical rethinking of the traditional bakery model, infusing it with a strong dose of activism and a commitment to sustainability.
Beyond merely selling bread, Padaria Brutalista aims to educate the public about sustainable agriculture, the importance of organic ingredients, and the health benefits of sourdough and naturally fermented foods. Patrícia uses her platform to engage customers in discussions about food sources, processing methods, and the environmental impact of food production. This educational component is crucial, as it transforms each purchase into a learning opportunity for consumers.
More than a regular bakery, we see Padaria Brutalista as a community hub focused on fostering a deeper connection between people and their food. Patrícia organizes workshops, participates in local events, and collaborates with schools and community groups to spread her message about the importance of good, clean, and fair food. At the end of the day, she hopes the community ends up better valuying what goes into food production, as well as the cultural significance that it all entails.
When it comes to the actual bread-making, the bakery sources its ingredients from local, organic farms, ensuring that every component of its breads, from the flour to the seeds, is produced without harmful chemicals and in a way that supports local economies. Patrícia’s commitment to local sourcing also helps to reduce the bakery’s carbon footprint. By advocating for and using locally grown grains, Patrícia not only improves the quality of her bread but also supports the revival of local grain economies, contributing to protect regional biodiversity and encouraging farmers to cultivate crops in a way that’s better for the environment.
Emphasizing the art of traditional bread-making, Padaria Brutalista also uses long fermentation processes, honoring techniques often overlooked in more modern and fast-paced production setups, but that here are celebrated for the sake of taste, health and even environmental sustainability. At Padaria Brutalista, quality and sustainability reign over convenience.
Looking forward, Patrícia aims to expand her impact by creating a network of like-minded bakers and artisans. Her vision includes developing a cooperative or collective that can support new bakers, share resources, and promote sustainable practices across the industry. Such a network would not only amplify the reach of her educational efforts but also strengthen the market for artisanal and sustainable bread, creating a solid alternative to industrial food production.
📍Portela da Cobiça, 3030-781 Coimbra
🌐www.instagram.com/padaria_brutalista
Photo by Coimbra Cooletiva
Seara de Pão
Founded in 2006 in Mértola, Seara de Pão has become a popular name outside of the Alentejo region because it has already won the prestigious ‘Best of the Best’ at the National Competition of Traditional Portuguese Bread twice.
Located in the village of São Miguel do Pinheiro, Seara de Pão specializes in the regional bread of Alentejo (pão alentejano), which is one of the country’s preferred styles of rustic bread loaves. At this family-run bakery, this hearty bread is crafted by Iria dos Anjos Reis, who insists on doing things like they’ve been done around here for a long time. Sticking to tradition and slow fermentation processes gives place to a high quality bread known for its robust unique taste, but also for its durability.
Iria steers clear of the complexities of modern culinary fads to focus on the fundamental elements that have defined Alentejo’s bread-making for generations. She uses only basic ingredients such as flour, water, salt and her own sourdough starter, completely forsaking chemical yeast. As someone of a certain age, she’s stuck in her ways but in the best possible way. Her approach to bread making follows the simple but true philosophy of “why fix something that’s never been broken”?
It’s interesting to see how “the best bread in Portugal” and some of the country’s most iconic bakeries and bakers are not located in Lisbon. Even though we are based in the city ourselves, we very much appreciate the decentralization of Portugal’s culinary gems, and would love to see travelers who come to Portugal explore our country and Portuguese regional cuisines way beyond the capital. If you’re lucky to travel to there, we would suggest exploring the most iconic dishes from Alentejo, as well as stopping by Seara de Pão, to taste some of the best bread in the country, which unfortunately we can’t easily purchase in Lisbon itself.
📍Rua do Moinho 1, 7750-628 São Miguel do Pinheiro, Mértola
Photo by Time Out Lisboa
Gleba
We have previously written about Lisbon’s Gleba, while highlighting the best artisanal bakeries in Lisbon. It is not redundant to talk about this bakery again, as this well-known project has a lot to do with the revival of traditional bread-making techniques and, perhaps what’s even more relevant than that, the actual preservation of ancient Portuguese grains.
Diogo Amorim, the young founder, established Gleba with the vision of returning breadmaking to its roots, utilizing ancient, locally-sourced Portuguese cereals and traditional techniques. At the heart of Gleba’s philosophy is the belief that bread, a staple as old as civilization itself, should honor the simplicity and integrity of its ingredients. This commitment is evident in their practice of allowing doughs to ferment for a full 24 hours in hand-woven wicker baskets. This slow fermentation enhances the bread’s digestibility and develops a complex flavor profile that is starkly different from the ubiquitous, quickly-produced commercial breads. The flavor of Gleba’s bread can’t even be compared to mass-produced varieties. At Gleba, every loaf has a dark and crackling crust, a well hydrated crumb, and an intense flavor.
Amorim, who ventured into breadmaking after experiences in fine dining restaurants such as The Fat Duck in England, wants to work in a way that contradicts the industrialization that has stripped many breads of their heritage and character. With a firm belief in the cultural and gastronomic value of bread, Amorim embarked on a mission to reintroduce Portugal to its baking heritage. Before the actual opening of Gleba, this involved extensive research and dialogue with older generations who retained knowledge of traditional methods and ingredients. His travels across Portugal unveiled a consistent theme: the widespread abandonment of native cereals and artisanal methods in favor of industrial efficiency and imported cheaper grains.
Recognizing the need to revive these traditional practices, Amorim forged partnerships with local farmers, encouraging the cultivation of ancient Portuguese cereals like Barbela wheat – which now seems widespread but that, as recently as a decade ago, not many had heard of. These partnerships are based on fair trade principles, ensuring that small-scale farmers find a reliable market for their crops, thus incentivizing the revival of heritage grains. The result of these efforts is bread that not only tastes exceptional but also embodies the principles of sustainability and local production.
Gleba started as a mill and bakery in the Lisbon neighborhood of Alcântara, and has meanwhile expanded to more than twenty stores in the city itself, in Cascais and several locations in the South Bank, as well as being available in several selling points such as specialty stores. Gleba’s bread is obviously not the cheapest in the market, but its loyal legions of customers are living proof that Portuguese consumers care more and more about the quality of the bread they buy and eat, and artisanal sourdough bakeries sure are here to stay!
📍Rua Prior do Crato N16 1350-261 Lisbon – this is Gleba’s flagship store, but you can check their website for more locations in and around Lisbon:
Photo by Gleba on Instagram
Photo by Museu do Pão
If besides tasting the breads of the bakeries we feature above, you are also interested in learning more about the history of bread in Portugal, we would also recommend a visit to the National Bread Museum in Seia (Rua de Santana, Quinta Fonte do Marrão, 6270-538 Seia). Focusing on the art and science of bread-making, this museum showcases traditional baking tools, hosts demonstrations, and explores the relevant role that bread plays in Portuguese food culture.
These bakeries are certainly contributing to solidifying our faith in the future of Portuguese bread-making. To keep up with stories like this one, subscribe to Taste of Lisboa’s newsletter and do not miss our regular publications on Instagram.
Feed your curiosity on Portuguese food culture:
The definitive guide to bread in Portugal
The best spots for brunch in Lisbon (with a Portuguese twist)
The best Portuguese pastry shops in Lisbon
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