With its lush green landscapes, upmarket leisure resorts and Mediterranean climate, the Algarve is renowned for drawing golfers and holidaymakers to the region.
But there’s a burgeoning gastronomic scene too, focused around quaint fishing communities, farms and artisanal producers – as I discover on a short winter break.
Filipe Caldas de Vasconcellos is the fourth-generation owner of 300-year-old vineyard, Morgado do Quintao, nestled in the hills between Silves and Lagoa. Filipe tells me that only 5% of the wine drunk in the Algarve is made here – even though it’s one of the oldest wine-producing regions dating back to the sixth-century BC.
The sunny environment provides perfect growing conditions for vines planted in lime and clay soil. Nearby, the Serra de Monchique mountains protect the area from wind, yet the breeze from the Atlantic Ocean provides ventilation and temperature regulation.
Filipe is passionate about staying true to Algarvian winemaking styles and grape varieties while also trying to ensure Morgado do Quintao is in operation for years to come. He tells me: “We want to plant new wines, while respecting ancient grape varieties that are local.”
One variety is Negra Mole – the second oldest Portuguese grape variety, indigenous to the Algarve. It produces fruity, floral and fresh wines that are often light in colour with low tannins. Filipe lets me sample one blended with Crato Branco grapes, and I have to agree – it’s the perfect tipple for a hot summer’s day.
At Quinta do Freixo, a fifth-generation, 700-hectare organic livestock farm, owner Luis Tiago Campo Cabral e Silva offers visitors a farm-to-fork experience. Diners are encouraged to pick their own food for chefs on site to transform. Luis explains it’s far more cost-effective to sell a product on a plate, rather than going wholesale.
“Lamb, per animal, sells for around €70,” he tells me. “But to sell lamb by the plate, you’re bringing inaround €320.” Profits are invested back into the farm, allowing Luis to develop environmentally friendly and regenerative farming methods.
“If you ask a farmer for food, you have food for a day. Ask for soil, you eat for life,” he quips.
Like Morgado do Quintao, Quinta do Freixo is a family-owned business. Luis tells me he wants to promote a resilient ecosystem by using diverse farming practices. He raises cows, pigs, sheep and chickens, with their feed produced on site, and water is supplied from the estate’s lakes.
Alongside rearing animals, raw materials such as cork, carob and fruit grow in Quinta do Freixo’s forests. Production takes place on site too, and Luis gives me a tour of the jam and chutney factory. I sample tomato, quince and pumpkin jams, and snap up a jar of fig jam to bring home as a present.
Similarly, sardine canner Conserveira do Arade has developed its own unique product – petiscada. The preserved fish delicacy is made with Algarvian ingredients, including vegetables, tomato, green pepper, olives and sweet potato.
I take a tour of the factory in Parchal, Lagoa, where co-founder Vincent Jonckheere explains the process of petiscada production. To start, sardines are fished from Portuguese waters.
Its sardines are much bigger, Vincent says. The fatter the fish, the more nutritious it is. Conserveira do Arade debone, gut and clean them before placing them in steam ovens and brining them in saltwater. This method of dehydration retains the fat.
Once processed, the fish is mixed with vegetables to create the petiscada, a chunky pate, which is best eaten spooned on to crackers.
While sardines are synonymous with Portugal, oysters are the star attraction for a tiny island just off the coast of the Algarve. Culatra, a three-mile-long island, part of the of the Ria Formosa National Park, with only a thousand residents, is home to renowned oyster farms. Only the descendants of fishing families can live on the island. The construction of new buildings is banned, and properties are leased and passed down.
Around 90% of oysters farmed – around seven tons per week – is sold to businesses, mostly in Paris, for around €20 euros/£17 per oyster. Residents also sell clams and fish. I speak to a fisherwoman about life on the island.
“I like to work with local people,” she tells me. “I like the traditions and culture, to be around humble people living in a peaceful way. There is no crime, it’s a healthy place to be.”
I get the chance to sample Culatra’s speciality oyster, the triploid, eaten with fresh limes and a simple onion and vinegar dressing. Afterwards, I head to one of the few restaurants on the island, Cafe Janoca, where staff serve clams cooked with parsley butter and lime, garlic prawns, and salad, washed down with local Portuguesebeer.
For more upmarket dining, the Michelin-starred Palmares Al Sud, overlooking the bay of Lagos, is the place to visit. The Algarve has eight Michelin-starred restaurants, but the local produce makes Al Sud stand out.
On offer is an eight-course tasting menu, paired with rare and unusual Portuguese wines (£240pp). We are served Algarvian coastal prawns cured in salt and sugar, with sea urchin and orange blossom, and oysters, cuttlefish and mussels reign supreme throughout.
The final dessert course consists of local carob, almond and fig, making this whole experience a true celebration of Algarvian cuisine. Delicious!
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