The next “Passos Contados” route will be dedicated to “Figs in the Algarve: from the tree to the smokehouse” and will take place this Sunday, August 27th, starting at 7:00 am, in Santa Rita (Vila Real de Santo António).
The tour will be done with the farmer João Sol.
With extensive areas of fig trees, the Algarve exported dried figs for centuries, which were of great importance in the diet of its people and in the regional economy.
In the “Crónica da Conquista do Algarve” one reads that the Moors asked the Christians for a truce so that they could gather their “news”, in the season that extends from the month of July to S. Miguel on the 29th of September. It was harvest time and the fig had to be picked up to S. Miguel.
Already then, the fig was, as it would continue to be, the staple food of the Algarve population. It was often served instead of bread to the people of the countryside and also killed the hunger of the animals.
Harvested in the summer, the fig was left to dry in the plum (a term that comes from the Arabic, al-manxar). Afterwards, when he wasn't going to the smokehouse (in the second half of the XNUMXth century there was at least one of these smokehouses in Cacela, João da Venda's, in Ponte).
«On this route we will pass through some fig trees in the surroundings of the village of Santa Rita, discover different varieties of figs and their respective harvest periods, pick already dried figs, visit a plum grove, taste dried figs and, finally, get to know a little about the history of the old Smokehouse of João da Venda, in Sítio da Ponte», says the organization.
Applications can be made to 281 952 600 or by sending an email to [email protected].
The registration fee is 5 euros.
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