This from Reddit/Portugal
“How is the rice in Lisbon so damn tasty?”
It appears that quite a few Portuguese saute their rice before cooking.
Never heard of it before but hey I’m not a cooking kinda guy
Would it be true to say it is common practice for most Portuguese households to prepare rice in such a fashion or similar?
Yeah, I’d say it’s very common, although I’m not sure if people do it every single time. At my house, we tend to just add salt and one or two bay leaves. Very simple, but also makes it smell and taste nice 
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When my girlfriend and I first met, she’d keep complaining that the rice I made was too bland. Being an Indian who loves his spices, I was honestly slightly offended! 
Then, she showed me how she cooked rice, which blew my mind. She sautés some finely chopped garlic and onions in olive oil, tosses in half a bay leaf, the rice, and only when everything is starting to brown, does she put in the water and salt. From what I understand, that’s just the Portuguese way of cooking rice.
Now, I’ve had fried rice before, even made it a few times. Sautéing the rice grains themselves was just so new to me, and I love it! I almost never make rice the “boring way” anymore, and even have my very Indian mum cooking it the Portuguese way!
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Not quite a food habit however a fascinating YouTube clip about Francesinha
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Oh, the Francesinha… It’s almost too much of a good thing, hah. I feel like I have to skip three meals in advance to finish a serving of that
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This looks enormous! If my husband and I ordered one to share, would people laugh at us? Are we wimps?
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Haha, nah. You do you!