The recipe book «Cataplana Algarvia: Tradições e Recriações» has just been published in Portuguese, Spanish and English to take the cataplana and gastronomy of the Algarve across borders in more than 40 recipes.
The publication can be downloaded free of charge from the website dedicated to the icon of regional cuisine, http://cataplanalgarvia.pt, and in Algarve Tourism Region promotional portal (RTA).
Before getting down to business – which brings together 30 confections from the coast, barrocal and Algarve mountains and 13 by guest chefs – it is essential to get to know the Cataplana Algarvia project, created to reveal the secrets of the utensil and the making of this dish from regional cuisine.
Promoted in partnership by Tertúlia Algarvia, RTA and Associação Turismo do Algarve, the project developed content and promoted experiences in the country and abroad in the last two years, with funding from the Algarve 21 Operational Programme.
The entry into the world of cataplana is made through live cooking demonstrations held with residents, tourists, journalists and tour operators, from cataplana recipe videos presented by renowned chefs such as Augusto Lima, Chakall, Henrique Leandro, Justa Nobre and Nuno Diniz, available online in several languages, and from experience programs Cataplana with everyone, which challenge the public to put on their aprons and participate in a cooking class that culminates in a meal full of flavors and aromas from the Algarve.
Now, with the edition of the book – like an instruction manual –, it's time to take the cataplana out of the closet and adopt the do-it-yourself concept to try, step by step, one of the many recipes with typical Algarve ingredients, including fish and seafood from the coast, meats and vegetables from the barrocal or game and aromatic herbs from the mountains, in addition to author recipes and recreations made with the project in mind.
Simple and quick to prepare, the bivalve cataplana is made with clams, razor clams, cockles and mussels and retains the flavors and aromas of the Algarve coast.
More elaborate, the chicken cataplana with sweet potatoes and clams is an adaptation of the traditional dish “Dona Galinha Foi à Praia” and reveals a happy marriage between mountain, barrocal and coastal flavors.
More surprising, the wild boar cataplana does not dispense with the company of vegetables and aromatics to awaken the senses of food lovers.
Altogether, there are 43 recipes waiting to be put to the test with the help of the cataplana, a characteristic container, originally made of copper or brass, formed by two concave parts that close tightly, with roots linked to the Arab influence of the North of Africa that, for more than 500 years, marked the historical and cultural identity of the Algarve.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues/Sul Informação
Tertúlia Algarvia, the Algarve Tourism Region (RTA) and the Algarve Tourism Association held, on 15 July, the closing session of the Cataplana Algarvia project, financed by the Algarve 21 Operational Programme.
For this session and under the baton of chef Augusto Lima, there were a dozen service cooks, namely the presidents of RTA (Desidério Silva) and CCDRA (David Santos), the person responsible for Tertúlia Algarvia (João Amaro), other professional chefs , journalists, representatives of the project's promoting and financing entities.
Everyone put on their aprons and took part in a cooking class, which culminated in a meal, where they could share the delights of the “ventresca” cataplana (tuna belly), cooked right there by many hands.
Before, the participants had visited the Municipal Market of Faro, to buy the fresh ingredients, and then got their hands dirty.
At the session, Desidério Silva was pleased with the results achieved with this project, stressing that his “concern as president of the RTA is to promote the diversity of the region's offer and the gastronomy is, without a doubt, one of our most- gains”.
The chairman of the board of Tertúlia Algarvia was also satisfied with the results achieved and made a point of "highlighting the articulation of the various partners and the role of the media", which "greatly contributed to the increase of the cataplana's notoriety".
João Amaro took advantage of this moment of assessment to launch four challenges for the future: “encourage more Portuguese people to use cataplana in their kitchens”; “transferring the history of cataplana to younger generations”; “continue the internationalization of the cataplana” and “enhance the manufacture of the utensil in the region”.
In response to this fourth challenge, David Santos, president of the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission, said that "one of the ways to solve the problem of not making cataplanas in the region" would be through the "involvement of the artisans of the TASA project" .
Book «Cataplana Algarvia: Traditions and Recreations»
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