The black stew, with cuttlefish ink and rice, from the new restaurant «Coentros», by the young Italian chef Massimiliano, was one of the most successful last Saturday, at the presentation of the “Festival da Caldeirada e do Mar” at the Armação Market of Pear.
The festival starts tomorrow, June 3rd, and continues until the 11th, in thirteen of the best restaurants in Armação de Pêra: Barbecue Balbino, Marisqueira Hera, A Tasca, Casa D'Avó, Coriander, O Casarão, O Fernando, O Pelintra, Olivalmar, O Silvense, Pôr-do-sol (at the Holiday Inn Hotel), Rocha da Palha and Vista Mar.
Last Saturday, among the bustle of people doing their shopping, there was a smell capable of whetting your appetite even at 10:00 am, coming from the table where pots, pans, metal and clay, and even a cataplana were lined up, with the different stews that each participating restaurant made and gave to taste.
So, when the speeches by the mayor of the Armação Parish Council, the mayor and the president of the Algarve Tourism Region, who had concentrated around the table to taste the stews, began to get impatient. In between there were many foreigners, mainly French and English, who stayed there, not noticing a word of the speeches (which were brief), but understanding that, in a short time, there would be good food to taste.
Rosa Palma, mayor of Silves, explained to a French couple, in Voltaire's language, what stew was, saying that it is made with many different fish and other products, all very fresh. But they insisted: «but it's like the paella Spanish?" No, none of that, it's more like the bouillabaisse from the south of France.
The couple of tourists tasted the Armacen stew, over and over, and in the end concluded: «very tasty! much better than the paella!» And with this compliment appealing to Portuguese nationalist pride, the two middle-aged Frenchmen were entitled to another bowl full of stew and another glass of good Algarve wine. And it wasn't even noon…
The mayor of Silvense would add that the festival “seeks to enhance the stew, a very important gastronomic tradition here in Armação de Pêra, a land of fishermen and fish of excellence”. As well as seeking to consolidate the main seaside resort in the municipality of Silves as a gastronomic tourism destination, even as a way of «helping local businesses».
For his part, Desidério Silva, president of the RTA, underlined the importance of gastronomy in attracting tourists, because they too are increasingly hooked in the stomach.
The “Festival da Caldeirada e do Mar” is promoted by the Municipality of Silves and has the support of the Parish Council of Armação de Pêra, the Silves Sul School Group and the Algarve Wine Route.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues|Sul Informação and City Council of Silves
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