The inspiration came in France, but, as the name indicates, the crepes by São Brasense Tony Cruz could hardly have been more from the Algarve. Goat cheese, capers, olives, almonds, mountain sausage and the most varied herbs, all ingredients from the Algarve and hand-picked by the Head, join crepes made from 100% organic buckwheat and make the «Algarvian Crepe», whose official launch will take place at the Feira da Serra de São Brás de Alportel, between 27 and 30 July.
Last Saturday, Tony Cruz received at Quinta do Peral, in São Brás, a group of tasters, including journalists, to introduce them to the various crepes he has already developed and which he will have for sale in the caravan that he designed and will serve. of itinerant house of the «Algarvian Crepe». Also present was the São Brasense municipal executive, who is supporting this local entrepreneur in the start-up phase.
The Algarvian businessman's idea is to make an "honest and simple" product, to take him in his caravan to events around the country (and not only), but also where the heart dictates, since, he says, it is given to decisions in the hour.
The fact that this was a very original entrepreneur was clear even before the dough touched the four crepe makers. Tony Cruz, like the products he developed, has a very unconventional life story. Born in France, he lived in São Brás de Alportel between 5 and 21 years old. At that age, he returned to Gallic lands, to dedicate himself to civil construction, an area in which he worked and in which he was the owner of companies.
But one day, life played a trick on him and, for health reasons, he had to abandon his job. “One day, my hands did not allow me to continue working and I was forced to leave work early. Along the way, I was driving on the highway and thinking about life, until I passed a large appliance store. I stopped there, for no particular reason, and walked down the halls, and at the end of one I found two pretty crepe trees all glowing. And I thought: I'm going to take them home and I'm going to start making crepes», described the Head São Brasense.
“At the time, I didn't know what a crepe was, nor what a recipe for making it was. I instructed myself, I learned the origins of crepe – which is an ancient product. At the same time, I had the advantage of having contacts in the Brittany region, which they say is the region fetish of the crepe. And little by little I learned what this world was,” he said.
It all started in a homemade logic, «Sunday oddball type», where Tony Cruz was experimenting and improving his technique. “I watched videos, calling friends in the hotel business who were giving me tips and, seeing that I could make a crepe, I was all happy,” he added.
Time passed and the passion grew. The idea of selling his crepes ended up being encouraged by his friends, who were following his culinary progress on social networks. This led him to decide to leave France and return "to his homeland".
Here, he rediscovered the products of the land, with which he grew up, and the business began to take shape. «I'm lucky to be in my 80s and to have lived through the XNUMXs, that time of the cabbage in the garden, the orange… Upon returning here to my homeland, I ended up being sensitized to the need to value the many things we still have here and, above all, to make local commerce work», he considered.
The name «Crepe Algarvio» came naturally, not least because Tony Cruz wants to make it clear, wherever he goes, that this is a product of the Algarve.
And if there were any doubts, there's nothing better than tasting (and proving) with the palate. The flavors of the Algarve mountains are unmistakable in the crepes of the Head São Brasense. For starters, there is a crepe shaped like a grid, instead of being circular, to make it lighter, made of goat cheese, capers and olives. But there are also the conventional round crepes, some with chorizo from Senhor Tolentino, producer of the Caldeirão, others with the beef bought in the day from local producers, used in the homemade hamburger crepe. All of them are brightened by the aromatic herbs that Tony Cruz himself chooses from his supplier, the company Dias de Aromas, moments before putting your hands in the dough, and using flavored oil.
These are the savory crepes, but there are also those that appeal to the “sweetest” ones. One of them, made of goat cheese, chila jam and carob “caramel”, makes the transition to the openly sweet, where ingredients such as peaches, figs and almonds join a dough with the house's stamp.
A very different gastronomic experience, but still with very familiar flavors that transport those who taste the «Algarvian Crepe» on a journey up the mountains.
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues/Sul Informação
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