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is no ‘R’ in the month’s name. The fish are
seriously fat, but it’s this fat that keeps the
flesh succulently moist. I also discovered
that a lot of the best little restaurants to eat
at don’t have names. Along the coast, just
20 minutes from Vilamoura, there’s a village
called Aldeia das Acoteias, where a small,
nameless café on the harbour serves up grilled
sardines, seasoned simply with sea salt for
about €1.50 (£1.30) a pop – right next to the
boats that caught them. This is cheap, local
and delicious food at its best.
You’ll find simple preparations of freshly
caught grilled fish everywhere, but it wasn’t
until I stumbled across Três Palmeiras in
Albufeira (51 Av. Infante D. Henrique, +351
289 515 423, restaurantetrespalmeiras.com)
that I truly understood what Portuguese
food and hospitality meant. The owner, João
Labisa, is far past retirement age, but can still
be found in his restaurant day and night with
his daughter and long-serving staff. He cooks
traditional recipes with such passion and
enthusiasm that the result is a restaurant so
good, I wish I lived next door to it.
We devoured plates of salt cod, grilled and
marinated in vinegar, olive oil and parsley,
seasoned to perfection and utterly divine.
There was also mackerel cooked in a local
escabeche (a vinegar or citrus pickling sauce),
and garoupa (grouper) simply simmered
with onions, tomatoes, peppers, white wine
and a single clove of garlic. It was simply
one of the nicest things I ate in the Algarve.
João also talked in great detail, with pride
and authority, about a national dish called
cataplana. He explained that if you live near
the sea, the dish is made with shellfish and
fish, while inland the locals add pork and use
less shellfish. In basic terms it’s a bouillabaisse
or fish stew that’s cooked in a copper pot –
which is where the dish’s name comes from.
It originates from the time of the Moors,
whose tagine cooking style left its mark on the
region. This is one dish that no visitor should
miss. I’m always looking for new ideas and,
although I don’t quite know how, I’m certain
João’s inspiration will come through in my
menus in some way soon.
Another dish that intrigued me was
caldeirada, which is made with layered
potatoes, fish, sliced garlic, olive oil and
tomatoes and cooked over an open flame. It’s
made and shared by fishermen out at sea and
hard to come by, but it has the satisfaction
factor of any hearty British dish, with
hundreds of years of heritage thrown in.
But it’s not all seafood. Further inland in
the village of Alte, we tried kebabs at a small
Don’t miss
eating
percebes,
or goose
barnacles,
which are
worth the
airfare here
alone
café (again, no name) that give the ones
back home a serious run for their money in
terms of quality. Made from prime chicken
marinated in local piri piri (African bird’s eye
chilli), the meat is cooked on ornate metal
skewers over a charcoal grill. Wash it down
with a glass of vinho verde, the local, almost
fizzy, white wine, that goes with pretty much
everything – including breakfast.
Those with a sweet tooth will be more than
satisfied by the local delights too. Forget your
Cornettos and Magnums, and instead head
to Albufeira’s Hotel Brisa Sol’s pastry shop
(Rua do Município, Lote 27, Apartado 2054,
hotelbrisasol.com). This bright and vibrant
pastry shop makes everything from classic
French millefeuille and puff-pastry palmiers
to tarts and ice creams. But the highlights
are the Portuguese specialty, marzipan fruits.
These aren’t synthetic almond-essence-laced
cakes, but rather delicious creations made
from natural almond paste, which isn’t sickly
– it just leaves you wanting more.
Nearly all of these local specialties contain
almonds, figs and oranges – unsurprisingly,
as they grow in abundance here. But one
native ingredient I didn’t expect was the carob
bean. It resembles a black broad bean and is
sometimes used as a chocolate replacement –
the flavour is perfumed with those bitter notes
you get from dark chocolate. It’s a special
ingredient and is used to make a local cake,
the carob cake – incredibly grown-up, yet
moreish and intriguing.
Seeking out local produce in the markets
is something I make a habit of whenever I’m
away. A visit to the fish and fresh produce
markets in the fishing village of Olhão, 11km
east of Faro, threw up a wonderful discovery.
The seafront is lined with numerous small
shops selling everything from crabs to live
lobsters, winkles to whelks and tasty cooked
prawns – all at very reasonable prices.
I recommend picking up a bottle of wine,
bagging yourself some shellfish and sitting by
the marina to enjoy it. At one of these shacks,
Agua Salgada, the owner Maria kindly opened
a dozen of the largest sweetest oysters I had
ever seen and also cooked me up my all-time
favourite, percebes, or goose barnacles. If
you’ve never had these, you must try them.
They’re worth the airfare to get here alone.
Nothing I know tastes more of the sea, are so
much fun to eat yet linger with sweet saline
meatiness for so long.
The main town of Faro has delights
aplenty, and if you can take your eyes off
the incredible architecture there are more
food markets to explore, busy and bustling
with fresh, seasonal fruit and vegetables.
From October to June pick up delicious local
figs. In between shopping trips, just follow
the lead of the locals who snack on lovely
individual deep-filled custard tarts, strong
espresso coffee and small plates of cured
meats while going about their daily business.
An unexpected highlight for me was a boat
trip to Ilha Deserta. It started off with a
one-hour bird watching trip – birds are not
algarve
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