There are small collars, there are medium-sized collars and even large collars. In Olhão, on Saturday, there will once again be a giant folar and everyone who goes to the Parish Church in that city, at 11 am, will be able to taste it, while contributing to a solidary cause. This Friday, there will be a first initiative linked to this event, at the Ria Shopping mall, in Olhão.
Confectioner Filipe Martins is thinking big again and is going to cook a cake measuring about 100 meters long, with five varieties of this typical Easter delicacy, some of which he created.
On the long table, there will be, as it should be, the typical and much appreciated Olhão Folar, but also the Serra Folar, with honey and olive oil, Olhão Folar with chocolate and Algarve Folar with fig, almond and orange, these last two creations by the young algarvian entrepreneur.
«The novelty this year is the fig, orange and almond. We added the fruits of the Algarve to the traditional folklore of Olhão, to give it a new flavor», he told the Sul Informação the chef from Oyenne.
To carry out this “contract”, a lot of material is needed. More than 500 kilos of yellow sugar, 200 kilos of flour, 200 kilos of butter, 100 kilos of margarine, 20 liters of olive oil, 10 liters of arbutus, 10 liters of honey, 15 kilos of almonds, 15 kilos of candied orange, 15 kilos of figs, two kilos of cinnamon and another two kilos of fennel, as well as about 500 eggs, 10 kilos of yeast and 15 kilos of chocolate are the ingredients needed to make 100 meters of folar.
«Last year we did 70 meters. This year it will have a hundred meters», said Filipe Martins, who has already accustomed the city with its enormous cakes. Since opening the doors of its establishment in 2012, both Easter and Christmas, it has promoted similar initiatives, with typical cakes from each of the festive seasons.
The base of operations is the Kubidoce pastry shop, owned by Filipe Martins, and the main party takes place next to the Church of Olhão, in front of one of the pastries that the Algarve brand promotes in Olhão. But, for those who don't want to wait, they can spend this Friday at the Ria Shopping mall, at 18 pm, where Filipe martins will present «a giant mini folar, to give people a taste», which will have “only” « 3 or 4 meters'.
In this initiative, which takes place on the second floor of the Ria Shopping, Filipe Martins will demonstrate the making of chocolates, which are another specialty of the house. "I will also do a chocolate demonstration, so that people know that chocolates are also made in Olhão," he added.
This is a great passion of the Algarve chef, who won the Chocolate Festival in Óbidos, in 2010. Kubidoce has its own line of bonbons and also produces turrón of different varieties, betting on the live preparation of these “sweets”.
On Saturdays there is folk music, music and handicrafts next to the Church
On Saturday, the party moves to the historic area of Olhão, where the giant folar will be served. «We have re-introduced a social character that we had already launched in December, with Bolo-Rei. We ask people to give a coin in exchange for the cake. This time, the revenue goes to the Associação Verdades Escondidas, which helps pregnant mothers and children at risk,” he said.
“This year, we will also have artists singing and dancing and artisans working cork, wood and other materials live. This is, more and more, a city party», he considered.
In this spirit, Filipe Martins once again counts on the help of the scouts from Olhão, who will provide support not only in making the cake, but also in setting up the table and distributing it.
Even because, when we talk about a cake of about a hundred meters, all the help is little. "This Friday, we will spend the whole day producing to take the cake to the Ria Shopping and, as soon as we leave there, it will be all night working", he said.
Preparations began yesterday, Thursday, so that in the last hours the work is as advanced as possible. “It takes three days to prepare things!” he said.
Initiative starts to have more support
Taking into account that cooking a cake of this size, with these ingredients, costs more than 4 thousand euros, Kubidoce has been looking for partners, to avoid paying for the initiative alone. And more and more people join the party of giant cakes in Olhão.
«This year I have the monetary support of the Chamber, Makro, which gives the sugar, Ibérica Fruta, a great partner of ours, Ria Shopping, in terms of image and promotion, which have been tireless, and the sweet wines of Lagoa. I'm also waiting for an answer from a pastry company upstairs,” he revealed.
“In terms of partnerships, it seems that people are more and more willing to join us. But it has been difficult. We started to deal with this right at the beginning of the year and, of the 500 emails we sent to Algarve companies, we received two or three responses», he said.
Veja here the photos of last year's folks, to whet your appetite!
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