Eating
out is one of the greatest pleasures when on
holiday in the Algarve! The variety of fresh
seafood and locally grown fruit and vegetables
is available in abundance. Fish is best when
simply grilled on an open charcoal fire. A typical
cheap meal to order is grilled sardines, accompanied
by new potatoes and salad. The more elaborate
seafood dishes such as seafood rice (arroz de
marisco), stewed clams with spicy sausage, pork,
garlic and onions, (ameijoas na cataplana), and
of course the famous salt cod which may be cooked
in many different ways. Should you prefer meat,
then chicken, pork, lamb, kid and rabbit are
generally better choices than beef. Restaurants
normally serve large portions, and you may wish
to skip the starter, as the "couvert" includes fish paté,
olives and bread. Many of the Portuguese desserts
and cakes are rich in almonds, eggs, sugar and
butter.
Algarve
is not an ideal wine making region and therefore
most of the good Portuguese wines are from regions
further north. Good red wines normally come from
the Alentejo regions, whereas the " vinho verde"
is a delicious light white wine and is a definite
with seafood. Rosé normally tends to be sweet.
Should you order the restaurant's house wine,
you will rarely be disappointed. For after dinner
"digestif", try a vintage port or sweet Madeira,
or you may wish to try an "aguardente medronho",
but watch out for the kick!
