Six sausage producers, 12 of medronho, two of honey, seven of sweets, two of jams and liqueurs, four of bread and 23 of handicrafts. Farinheira, sauces, sausages, black pudding, ham. Onion cachola, corn and beans, Monchique cabbage, porridge with pike, fregeneco, honey pudding and pot cake.
These are the different ingredients with which, over two days, on the weekend of March 2nd and 3rd, the 20th Serra de Monchique Sausage Fair will be made in Monchique.
The event, which usually attracts thousands of people, will highlight traditional charcuterie products made from locally grown black pigs.
Idália Duarte, owner of the “Sítio da Serra de Monchique” factory in Picota, the oldest traditional sausage factory in this town, which since 2001 has been dedicated to the production and processing of the well-known black pig, guarantees that “due to genetic factors, the meat is tastier because it is marbled. When the meat has those little streaks of fat inside, which we call marbled, it is because the meat is of good quality».
Luís Grade, vice-president of the Monchique Chamber and responsible for organizing the Fair, said in an interview with Sul Informação to be «very happy and very sad» with this year's edition of the event, which will be the 20th.
"Happy because we have received requests from all over the country and, from here in Monchique, all producers in the agri-food sector will be present." And “sad because I don't have the capacity to respond to host more exhibitors”.
The Sausages Fair, as always, will take place in the 3000 square meters of the heliport, which are already scarce for the size of the initiative. “We are conditioned and we cannot expand there. But the Municipality of Monchique has in mind the acquisition of land, that of the former Júlio & Júlio sawmill, for which we have already submitted an application to the PO Algarve21, depending only on the approval of this application and the Municipal Assembly».
«The time has come to stop being politicized and to acquire land to install a pavilion for fairs and exhibitions with space, conditions and capacity to respond to the various events that we promote throughout the year and others that may come to be promoted, with a view to the future'.
Luís Grade recalls that, in addition to the Sausages Fair, there are also Ham, Medronho, Lemon and Potato Fairs, Artechique and the Festival de Motards. But as other conditions, «we would also have space that would allow us to create new events, namely one dedicated to honey, since Monchique is the biggest producer in the Algarve».
The new installations, in the space of the old lumber mill, next to the roundabout at Largo de São Sebastião and the road to Fóia, would even bring, according to the mayor, «many savings to the City Council. Every time we do a fair, we have to rent the pavilions and that has added costs». The intended land, he adds, «they even already have a very reasonable covered area», which could be used.
At the same time, stresses the deputy mayor of Monchique, the space would also serve as a "bus terminal".
Six registered producers guarantee dozens of jobs
But back to the Traditional Sausages Fair. Its objective is to make known and promote the production of a sector that already represents dozens of jobs in the mountain council. Currently, there are four factories and two traditional kitchens, units smaller than the factories, all perfectly legalized and complying with the strictest quality standards. One of the producers already has another factory, in the neighboring municipality of Aljezur, while all have butchers for direct sale to the public in the center of the village of Monchique.
«The agri-food sector has an increasing importance in the municipality and, with the crisis, due to a certain return to the land that is taking place, I think this will become more accentuated», stresses Luís Grade.
The mayor was even "very happy" to see that, in most cases, the investments made by traditional sausage producers "have their continuity assured, since the children are also already working in these units".
Another sector in clear affirmation is the production of medronho brandy, which, having its own fair (in July), is also present at the event tomorrow and Sunday.
There are already 75 licensed distilleries in Monchique and close to 45 registered brands of medronho brandy. «After taking some time to start, the process of licensing the medronho is already bearing fruit and the case of Monchique has even served as an example for other Algarve municipalities, which have come here to draw on our experience».
At the Monchique Sausages Fair – which this year even had an unexpected notoriety, as the Confraria dos Enchidos accused the Algarve of having plagiarized its logo… – in addition to the pubs of the collectives present inside the venue, there is also a Gastronomic Exhibition to course, with the membership of seven local restaurants, where you can taste dishes such as onion cachola, corn and beans, kale à Monchique, roasted black pork, papas with pikes or the traditional beans with cabbage. For dessert, the proposal includes honey pudding, pan cake or sweet potato pastries.
The catering establishments that joined this show are Palmeirinha dos Chorões, A Charrette, O Parque, O Luar da Fóia, O Jardim das Oliveiras, O Paraíso da Montanha and O Recanto.
In addition to all this, the fair also offers plenty of entertainment, with the highlights of the poster being the performances of Leandro, on Saturday, at 21:30 pm, and Adriana Lua, on Sunday, at 19:00 pm. In between, there will also be the streets of Xaranga do Rosário, and performances by rhythmic gymnastics, fitness, dance kids, oriental and ballroom dancing groups.
In addition, and proving that nature tourism is also an important bet for the Monchique Chamber, the Feira dos Enchidos is a pretext to “inaugurate”, on Sunday, a walking route connection to Via Algarviana, between Monchique-Picota-Caldas-Monchique.
The objective of the Fair is to promote Monchique sausages, derived from black pork meat and cured according to the region's traditional methods, highlights the organization.
The Sausages Fair is an initiative of the municipality of Monchique and has the support of the Food and Veterinary Services Directorate of the Algarve Region, the Regional Directorate of Agriculture, Algarve Tourism and the Association of Sausage Producers of Monchique.
And if you're afraid of the cold of the mountains, know that, for heating, there's nothing better than traditional sausages and comforting mountain food, all topped off with a medronho or honeydew. Maybe the cold disappears as if by magic!
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