Instead of just eating culinary classics, learn about the story behind each recipe and the secrets of traditional Portuguese cooking!
If there’s one thing Portugal is good at, it’s cooking. Food has always been an essential pillar of Portuguese culture, history, and daily life. Learn to prepare 3 different dishes: starter, main course and dessert, while tasting some Portuguese appetizers and «vinho verde», local green wine, as you cook. Enjoy the satisfaction of eating a meal that you’ve helped to prepare. Gather around the table, eating, sharing, talking, and laughing on a beautiful summer day eating out in the open air in Peneda ecofarm’s courtyard, or in the beautiful farm kitchen, in colder days.
Why you will love
– Enjoy a 2-hour hands-on Portuguese group cooking experience introduction to Portuguese cuisine with lots of chatting and storytelling
– Enjoy some wine and appetizers as you cook
– Get to know fellow foodies and share moments
– Feast on a 4-course meal (starter, vegetable soup, main dish, dessert)
– Accompany your meal with a traditional Portuguese wine
– Discover more about the role of food in Portuguese culture
– Take home recipes of the dishes you have prepared
– Small group of 6 people or less
– Organic farm, beautiful kitchen, courtyard and surroundings
– Peneda-Gerês National Park, 1 hour drive from Porto
– accommodation B&B at the farm with 10% discount for participants (not included in the programme)
Menu
APPETIZERS
Apple & farinheira puffs
«Farinheira» is a Portuguese smoked sausage made with flour, pork fat, garlic, white wine, and bell pepper paste. These puffs wonderfully combine Farinheira and apple.
Fried «Alheira»
Most Portuguese sausages have always contained pork, but «alheira» is an exception. In the 15th century, Portuguese Jews created this sausage as a way to deceive the Inquisition. Since they couldn’t eat pork, they made sausages with other kinds of meat like poultry and game, adding bread for texture. Garlic (alho in Portuguese) was also a common ingredient, hence the name alheira.
«Chouriço»
«Chouriço» the smoked sausages of Portugal. It’s hard to find a meat dish in Portugal without at least one kind of «enchido», or traditional Portuguese sausage. Whether you like them raw, grilled, baked or fried, there are endless ways of eating Portuguese sausages.
Cheese
There’s no limit to the textures and flavors of Portuguese cheeses, as the country produces everything from creamy and mild to hard and sharp cheeses.
Cured olives
In Portugal, olives are deeply rooted in our food and culture. Consuming fresh olives does not mean eating directly from the tree, as the fruit has an accentuated bitterness, it therefore requires a special preparation, which gives it special flavor and quality.
«Broa de milho» (corn bread)
The northern part of Portugal is not a very good place to grow wheat, but the climate is fantastic for growing corn. So we bake bread using corn flour instead of wheat flour.
STARTERS
Corn bread migas with black-eyed peas and cabbage
Migas is an ancient dish in Portuguese cuisine. At its base, it is made from softened bread cooked in fat. Its name, migas, is literally translated to crumbs, referring to its key ingredient – breadcrumbs.
«Sopa do dia» (vegatable cream soup)
In Portugal, soup season is all year. Hot soup is an essential part of Portuguese diet. The variety of Portuguese soups is endless. In every restaurant you can always find the «sopa do dia», a soup made fresh every day with available seasonal ingredients.
MAIN COURSE
«Arroz de cabidela» (Chicken rice)
«Arroz de cabidela» is one of the oldest dishes of traditional Portuguese cuisine. It consists of chicken rice jazzed up with chicken blood and vinegar. Today, it is seen as one of the greatest riches of Portuguese gastronomy!
DESSERT
«Leite creme queimado» (Portuguese egg custard)
In Portugal it is a very popular and traditional dessert. The contrast between the cold smooth custard and the crisp caramelized sugar is amazing!
