In Portugal, where there is typical food and snacks, there is usually a lot of entertainment and conversation. This is precisely what is intended to happen from Wednesday until April 6th, at the Fortnight Gastronomy of São Brás de Alportel, where traditional cuisine from Serra do Caldeirão, local products and the appetite of residents and visitors come together, in a recipe whose success has been growing for the past seven years.
What also grows, is the mouth water, when knowing some of the special suggestions that the seven participating restaurants will have prepared, as revealed during the presentation of the event, which took place at the end of last week.
Tomato tiborna with aromatic herbs and mountain cheese, a turkey breast with honey sauce, creamy spinach with poached eggs, the traditional lamb stew, corn porridge and grain dinner, and almond tart on full fig ice cream or a rice pudding to finish, are some of the suggestions.
The common denominator of these gastronomic creations is respect for the Algarve traditions, the application of the precepts of the Portuguese Mediterranean Diet and the preferential use of seasonal and local products, whether in the preparation of dishes or accompanying them, as the menus will be created especially for the Quinzena Gastronómica, they all have an Algarve wine associated with it.
Victor Warrior. "We have to believe more in ourselves and our products"
This year, the São Brás de Alportel Chamber, which promotes the event, challenged the participating restaurants to highlight aromatic herbs, not only because of the importance they assume in the concept of the Mediterranean Diet, but also in view of the next Feira da Serra, which will have this type of wild plants as "stars".
The catering establishments that will participate in this already traditional Easter event, in São Brás, are almost all “recurrent”, although there is something new and a re-entry, after a year of break, to be registered.
Adega Nunes, Lagar da Mesquita, O Marquês, Sabores do Campo and Zé Dias, which were already on the list of participating restaurants in 2014, are joined by the restaurant Ysconderijo, which returns after a year of interregnum and in a new location and Rui's Steak House, a house that participates for the first time in the Gastronomic Fortnight.
«Rui's Steak House, despite having a concept that is not connected with traditional cuisine, accepted the challenge and will present a suggestion at the Quinzena Gastronómica», revealed the vice-president of the São Brás City Council, Marlene Guerreiro.
Concept Slow Food always be present
«”Merenda, food, company unmade”… In Portugal, everything revolves around snacks», frames the godmother of the seventh edition of Quinzena Gastronomcia de São Brás by Alportel Luísa Teixeira, member of the Association of Lands and People of the Mediterranean Diet.
In Portugal, he argues, the most important and memorable moments are almost always associated with food. And this opens up a world of possibilities, namely for traditions, for endogenous products and for those who produce them, capable of giving a boost to the local economy.
It was not by chance that the municipality of São Brás chose a godmother of this association. The community, headquartered in São Brás, but with a supra-regional scope, is an active partner in this edition of the event, as it will monitor the menus presented by the participating restaurants and make any suggestions, so that they fit as much as possible. in the spirit of the initiative.
What is intended is not for the association to act as inspector of the food presented. The suggestions should go through issues more linked to tradition, such as the name of the dishes. This is because it is not uncommon to find births with foreign terms, in restaurants, when they have specific designations in our language.
Luísa Teixeira: “We have to be intransigent, so that we don't irreparably lose a series of traditions”
«I would like to see the name snack more used, instead of tapas. Today, we use terms in our cuisine from cultures that have never dropped their identity. We must all get together and create a serious self-esteem», considered Luísa Teixeira, recalling that «bread, olive oil and wine are the most holy trinity of Portuguese gastronomy», .
This is just one example among many. One, quite common, is the use of the term Bruchetta instead of the Portuguese good tiborna. But there are many more to point out. "We have to be intransigent, so as not to irretrievably lose a series of traditions", defended the event's godmother.
This is, moreover, one of the objectives of the Gastronomic Fortnight. “We have to believe more in ourselves and our products. The Algarve has the possibility of offering experiences to those who visit us and the gastronomy is a fabulous wealth, which provokes the experiences and emotions that many seek”, illustrated the mayor of São Brás Vítor Guerreiro.
And, since the Quinzena Gastronomica de São Brás is closely linked to the concept of Slow Food, is the ideal time to introduce a new project in this area, the arrival in São Brás of the international quality seal «Aliança dos Cozinheiros».
This distinction, created in Italy, rewards restaurants and chefs who are committed to the Slow Food concept and who use local products. The project is already operating in Italy, France, Morocco and Lebanon, and is now taking its first steps in Portugal. The formal presentation of the project will take place during the Gastronomic Fortnight.
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