Trás-os-Montes ("Beyond the mountains") is a mountainous former region and now province of north east Portugal running up to the Spanish border and lying north of the River Douro. In the fertile valleys the crops are grapes and fruit, while sheep and goats graze the thin pastures of the uplands. Chestnuts are harvested along with rye and corn, making the basis of the coarse flours commonly used here. Meals are likely to include hearty sausages. The province was traditionally extremely poor, divided from the rest of the country by the Alvão and Marão mountains which separate the coast from the interior.
