National and foreign tourists, staying at the Hotel Rural Quinta do Marco, in Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo, were invited, earlier this week, to live a real day in the countryside, with the farmers, in the locust bean harvest.
According to this hotel in the interior of the municipality of Tavira, the experience started in the morning, with an explanation about the importance of carob and the possible uses of this fruit which, at the moment, is the true “black gold of the Algarve”.
Then, the many customers who joined the experience started work. They started with the operation of varejar (throwing the fruit down the tree) carried out by children and adults, while others began the harvest, with the fruit being collected in baskets made from algarvian palm and then packed in sacks of about 30 to 40 kilos each. .
As in all rural activities, there was room for the “bucha” served under the tree, with carob-based products, namely Homemade Carob Cake, Carob Bread Sandwiches and Carob Berlin Balls, with various fillings. With this loofah, the catchers even gained renewed strength and will.
Lunch was a time of fellowship between tourists and farmers. The typically regional menu included fried petingas with arjamolho (a typical salad from the Algarve countryside) and a chickpea stew.
For dessert, the novelty was the tasting of carob ice cream, which was especially appreciated by the younger ones. As it could not be otherwise, the coffee was accompanied by a small glass of arbutus brandy.
The Hotel Rural Quinta do Marco explains that it seeks, “whenever possible, to provide its customers with experiences related to agricultural and rural activities”.
With the locust bean harvest, recreating a traditional activity in the countryside, the customers of the Hotel Quinta do Marco «enriched their knowledge and proved, in the first person, that the Algarve is not just the sun and the beach and that there are several complements that they can experience , during the holidays, in what is the main tourist region of the country».
At the same time, the opportunity was taken to promote carob derivatives, a fruit that in a few years became the main annual income of Algarve farmers.
This experience was supported by the company Farocandy, leader in the production and sale of Carob Berry Balls, to whom the hotel thanks for its support.
The Hotel Rural Quinta do Marco, inserted in an agricultural property with 18 hectares, has been reinforcing the planting of carob trees, also as a result of this being a rainfed tree without great need for water.
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