Here's a pic of my Gallo (rooster in Portuguese) my mom and Michael got him for me a while back. They're traditionally kept in the kitchen and the story goes that there was this man who was brought before a judge/king/mayor because he was wrongly accused of a crime. The man had prayed and prayed (probably to St. Anthony) to be proven innocent. The man was brought before the judge while the judge was eating dinner. The cruel corrupt judge couldn't care less if the man was innocent or not and said "I swear to set you free if the rooster on my plate stands up and crows" Well the rooster did, as an answer to the man's prayers so he was set free.

That's the gist of it anyway, I remember my mom telling me the story but I don't remember any more of the details. The designs are moorish in origin, since the moors lived in the area where Portugal is now and their influence on food and art is pretty obvious if you really look.