The «Aromas and Flavors with Fig from India» were again demonstrated in a competition, in Martim Longo, in the municipality of Alcoutim. In all, 32 recipes that use this fruit, from the fig tree or cigar tree, were given to taste, five of which ended up awarded by a jury with no shortage of renowned chefs.
The recipe that won the competition was presented by Michaela Joaquim, who placed on the table a «India fig mousse with chocolate», followed by Angela Teixeira, with the recipe «Espiral Pita», and Tatiana Fernandes, with her «Sweet Anaji» (see photos at the end).
There were also distinctions for the most innovative recipes. In the Amateur Innovation category, the winner was Sílvia Candeias, who took part in the contest «Chocolate bonbons with pâté de pâté de Indias». In professionals, the company Doces Candeias won with the «Sweet of India fig and palm».
The competition jury was made up of: Leonel Pereira, chef of the São Gabriel restaurant; Vitor Ramos, pastry master at the Hilton Hotel; Maria José Vasques, member of the Confraria de Gastronomos do Algarve; Nelson Ventura, member of the Confraria Gastroómica do Figo da Figueira da India and Nuno Rodrigues, of the Associação Terras do Baixo Guadiana.
In addition to tasting the prickly pear in its various forms, the dozens of participants who passed through the hall of the Parish Council of Martim Longo also had the opportunity to attend a presentation on the prickly pear tree by Grão Master of the Gastronomic Confraternity of Fig and Fig Tree of India Tomé Panazeite, who focused on the constitution of the plant, the main uses of fig and fig trees and the care to be taken in setting up an orchard.
«Raising the population's awareness of the importance of the sustainable exploitation of endogenous products in general and the prickly pear in particular for the development of the region, as well as promoting local products and the gastronomic tradition of the Algarve mountains, based on the Mediterranean diet, were the great goals of the organizers, who promise a fifth edition of the initiative next year», according to the Chamber of Alcoutim.
The competition is organized by the alcouteneja municipality, the Parish Council of Martim Longo, APROFIP – Association of Portuguese Fig Producers of India and ADECMAR – Association for Ethnographic Cultural Development of Martim Longo and had the collaboration of the Centro Recreativo e Cultural do Laborato and the Pessegueiro Irrigation Agricultural Cooperative – Coopêssego, among other entities.
Awarded recipes:
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