The Mediterranean Diet can also be presented in a gourmet version and, thanks to the Regional Coordination and Development Committee, some more elaborate recipes, using local products and associated with this diet, but also adding some fusion, can now be tried by anyone.
The books «Chefs' Recipes» and «Reinventing Mediterranean flavours» were launched last week, in what was the final moment of the 1st Mediterranean Diet Gastronomy Festival, which took place at the Algarve Hotel and Tourism School, in Faro, In may.
The Algarve's CCDR took advantage of the balance of the two phases of the «Articular para Intervir» to call the winners of the competition promoted within the scope of the festival and launch the books that resulted from it.
In May, seven teams of chefs from renowned restaurants were asked to present a menu, consisting of a starter, a fish dish, a meat dish, a dessert and a cocktail. A few months later, the recipes then presented were transposed to the book «Receipts of the Chefs».
In addition to the competition's recipes, the book also has a suggestion from each of the members of the jury, including three renowned Chefs. Leonel Pereira, Henrique Leis and Henrique Leandro are the three chefs who were part of the jury, who were joined by Francisco Guerreiro and Miguel Gião, both linked to the bar area, who left recipes for cocktails.
The competition launched in partnership by CCDR do Algarve and EHTA offered as a prize to the winning team, from the L14 restaurant, of the Salgados Dunas Suite Hotel, to launch its own cookbook. And that was how “Reinventing Mediterranean flavours” was born, which, as Chef Vítor Monteiro, who led the team of four elements, explained, included flavors very typical of the region, but also fusion experiences. Vítor Monteiro had Rogério Bento, Pedro Batista and Idalina Santos as teammates.
In the book they launched, as well as in what reveals how the dishes placed in the competition are made, which can already be purchased from CCDR in the Algarve, there are recipes that are «more complicated, but also quite accessible», all of them «with a gourmet touch », illustrated Catarina Cruz, from CCDR do Algarve and coordinator of the gastronomy festival, where the competition was inserted.
«We thought that the Mediterranean Diet, despite having a high point of promotion at the Fair held in Tavira, was very centralized in that city. And we wanted to give this regional vision, which is fundamental. Thus, we idealized an event that, in 2015, took place in Faro, but it can be taken to other municipalities in the region», said Catarina Cruz.
In the case of this first edition, the festival was associated with the EHTA initiative «Senses and Traditions», which led to the association of a gastronomy competition to the event. «There was a very important collaboration of the Hotel and Tourism School, in the selection of the jury and the restaurants. And it made sense to leave a memory, namely through the edition of these books», he added.
Anyone can buy the books, which cost 5 euros each», going to the headquarters of the CCDR do Algarve, in Faro, or contacting the entity by email. “If they contact us, we'll find a way to get the book. We also have the works for sale at the events where we have a stand», he said.
This is yet another contribution by CCDR do Algarve to the dissemination of recipes linked to Algarve traditions. Because, despite the sophistication, many of the chefs' suggestions, in any of the books, are inspired by the typical cuisine of the region. The recipes «Grilled Albicroques with cream cheese and ham», «Mullet with shrimp and salicorn rice» (Reinventing Flavors book) and «Dried fig and almond fondante with merose and pennyroyal ice cream, almond meringue and rosemary honey» (book Revenues from Chiefs).
“The publication of these books is already a tradition. We also have a partnership, within the Algarve-Alentejo-Andalusia Euroregion, in which we have already launched works on tapas, olive oil recipes and fish recipes. Now, we are preparing another one of soups and broths, more connected to Alentejo traditions», revealed Catarina Cruz.
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