[1] According to Taste Atlas, the dish may have first been created in Vendas Novas, but it is served throughout the country.

[1] The typical ingredients are pork chops, steak, or loin, pounded thin or sliced, simmered with garlic and wine, then sandwiched inside heated bread.

[2][1][3] There are regional variations which include marinating and grilling or roasting the pork and making the sauce separately and drizzling onto the bun and/or serving with mustard, hot sauce or sauteed onions.

[citation needed] It is generally seen as a popular dish; McDonalds serves a version called McBifana.

[5] The bifana has seen international adaptation in various European and North American cities, often in Portuguese immigrant communities.