Category: foooood

supermarkets in azores

so one of the things i like to do when visiting a place is to walk around the supermarket and find the things we can’t find at home (see here, here, here or here). i didn’t expect to actually see a lot of these in azores, since well, this is still portugal after all… and yet, a supermarket there, even a chain from the mainland, is still a bit different from what we find around here.

first off, you can tell you’re a bit closer to the usa from the kind of things and brands they stock:

and then, there are lots and lots of local products, far more than you’d see in any region in portugal! stuff like meat, cheese and dairy of course, but also vegetables grown in the islands, local teas and jams, biscuits and tinned stuff, and even pizza!

i wish i had some of these in the mainland too though, they were great — especially the cheeses and breads!

foooood in azores

pico bread

i was kind of planning on continuing eating well while we were in azores… but i mean… i’m only human. what does a person do when presented with a delicious assortment of cooked gluten, the likes of which seem to not exist in the mainland? we eat and enjoy it, that’s what we do! :D

our first introduction to pico’s delicious bread was the “pão de milho” that our hosts left for us on the house. i mean…

the photos don’t even do it justice, it’s just so fluffy and unexpectedly moist! we kept buying more from the bakery in the village, and everyday we happily gobbled up pieces of it, loaded with butter, sighing and closing our eyes in contentment.

then, on a random supermarket stroll, we found out about “bolo de milho”. it was still warm and “sweating” inside of the bag when i first spotted it, which instantly made me interested. this one has a slightly sweeter, non-fermented dough that felt barely cooked…

… but was a-ma-zing! we didn’t buy more of this one because it was so good, way too dangerous to have around the house tempting us to eat just a bit more of it. :P

and last, but not least, rosquilhas:

they make these around the time of the holy spirit holiday, which is a big thing in the azores and happened to take place while we were there. they’re more of a dessert bread, sweeter and lemony, but oh-so-good! they have to be eaten a bit faster though, as they dry quickly once cut, but they’re lovely with some local jam.

and i think that’s it for our gluten explorations in the islands — next up, cheese! :D

Post author By ana
Post date May 25, 2021
No Comments on pico bread

algarving foooood

maria flaminga

tavira is one of the representative communities of the mediterranean diet, and so the town organizes events throughout the year to showcase different aspects of the diet focused on the local knowledge and practices. on one of these events some years ago, we got to discover maria flaminga‘s farm, and it was one of the best things that happened that year.

the owner isabel is from the north of the country, but she took a piece of land in the edge of tavira and transformed it into a bio farm. a collection of avocado trees had been growing there for years already, and slowly, the rest of the land transformed into a fertile corner. everyday, there’s fresh produce being picked and roaming chickens that you can feed your food scraps to.

we drive there once a week and fill our basket with veggies and fruit without any packaging or pesticides, piling the kitchen with avocados in winter and looking forward to the arrival of figs in summer.

like the fish basket, it’s one of those things we didn’t expect when moving here but that we enjoy immensely. it feels like a privilege to have all this abundance at our doorstep, and we especially cherished it last year as it allowed us to get most of our food without setting foot inside a supermarket. hurray for local producers! :)

eggeusia foooood

vietnamese egg soda

this is one of those egg recipes that you just need to try for yourself, or you’ll never believe it works. it’s really simple though, so there’s no excuse not to give it a go: beat an egg, slowly pour some sparkling water on it, mix, add some condensed milk and stir again until it’s nice and foamy. pour it over a glass with some ice cubes and you’re done! the taste is eggy and sweet, and just the thing for a hot summer afternoon. :)

algarving foooood

rota do petisco

for a few years now, a local association has been organizing the rota do petisco, a food festival in which you can taste small dishes from 300 or so restaurants. instead of putting them together in a single location though, the event takes place over a month in the restaurants themselves, all over algarve. this year we finally gave it a go, and i was a bit surprised to discover how much i enjoyed it! :D here’s five things i like about it.

1. the passport! you need a passport to have access to the food, and though it’s just a little book, it’s actually kind of fun to collect the stamps and see where you’ve been. there’s also a picture/description of the dish, and useful information about where the restaurant is or when it is open (something we always forget to check). at the end of the rota, you can use it to vote for the best dish of the year.

2. every dish costs €3 (for a main course) or €2 (for sweets or desserts) and includes a drink, no matter how fancy the place is. i really like this simplicity, as it removes all the guesswork and uncertainty out of the equation and makes it really easy to give new restaurants a try.

3. the dishes are small, usually focused on local stuff, but very tasty! one probably won’t fill you up, but if you have 2, or 2 + 1 dessert, you should be good for that meal. this gives people the incentive to try different nearby things, in a more informal setting that doesn’t require sitting down for a long time, like a proper meal. i’ve seen groups of friends hopping from one restaurant to the next, in a sort of happy “rally da tascas” (but with less drinking).

4. while you wait for the food, you’re encouraged to draw! the restaurants have paper placemats that double as drawing paper, and this year they requested fishes. our talents are a bit questionable… but it’s a fun way to spend the time while we wait for the food. the restaurant owners will collect these at the end of the meal and send them to the organization, who will exhibit some.

5. and finally, the timing! i like that it happens in the shoulder season, just before the heat and the wave of tourists come. it would be impossible to pull this off in the summer, when restaurants are full to the brim, and stress is high for the chefs and waiters. as it is, it feels like a very relaxed event, something that happens at algarve’s own pace.

so that’s it! it’s been a brilliant month, we’ve tried quite a few new restaurants, and found some that we shall be returning to. see you again next year, rota do petisco! :)