01 de Setembro
Cataplana Experience - Demonstrations and lessons by top chefs
The Cataplana Experience festival will bring to a close the “Allgarve” gastronomy program. Cooking shows and lessons by some of today’s best chefs will be held at the Vilamoura Marina from the 1st to the 5th September.
This will be the second edition of the Cataplana Experience, an event specially created for the “Allgarve” program. Chef Bertílio Gomes, gastronomic program coordinator, explains what will happen: “The Cataplana Experience will be more interactive this year. People will be able to register for cooking lessons as well as cooking shows.” Both the entrance to the festival and the lessons will be free of charge. Reservations can be made at the Vilamoura Marina from 4 p.m.
The event will promote the cataplana, an amazingly versatile Portuguese cooking utensil, from the Algarve region. With the cataplana you can steam, smoke and even prepare desserts. For 5 days, chefs currently working in Portugal will introduce us to new ways of using this utensil. “The Cataplana is a beautiful and unique object. You cannot find it anywhere else in the world and it has been underrated”, says chef Bertílio Gomes.
Visitors to the Cataplana Experience will enjoy a sophisticated space, designed to be both attractive and relaxing, with two separate areas: an auditorium, where the cooking shows will be held, and the kitchen area, where the lessons will take place. Each of the chefs will give a lesson and will perform in a cooking show.
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05 de Agosto
Allgarve Gourmet: Olhão opens its doors to shellfish
After Portimão it is Olhão’s turn to host the third Allgarve Gourmet festival. From 10th to 15th August, between 7.30 pm and midnight, in Jardim Pescador Olhanense, you can enjoy chef’s signature shellfish dishes against the magnificent backdrop of the Formosa estuary.
In the same location but apart from the traditional Shellfish Festival, visitors will delight in the new flavours and truly appreciate the reinvention of traditional Algarve cooking, based on the fish and shellfish to be found in the Formosa estuary. Describing the Shellfish Festival and the Allgarve Gourmet festival, the head of the gastronomic program, chef Bertílio Gomes, makes a clear distinction: “The shellfish festival is the more popular, the raw materials are placed in front of you without a chef’s intervention. The gourmet festival is different because the dishes are made from the same raw materials but they are more sophisticated and are prepared in new ways”.
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14 de Julho
Best Algarve recipes honoured in Cataplana Experience competition
The results of the Cataplana Experience restaurant competition, which sets out to develop the use of this copper cooking utensil shaped like two clam shells, will be announced on 12th July. The competition is part of the gastronomic festival of the same name that will take place in Vilamoura Marina from 1st to 5th September and involves 30 Algarve restaurants that have devised recipes that enhance regional products, culture and traditions, as well as express the chefs creativity.
“The Cataplana is a beautiful and unique object. You cannot find it anywhere else in the world and it has been underrated. Chefs have not yet given it its due and we need to introduce it into kitchens”, says the Allgarve’10 gastronomic program coordinator, Bertílio Gomes, in regard to the importance of the event.
The competition is divided into three categories: Gastronomic – open to restaurants that are part of a 5-star hotel or not, where the cooking and sophisticated service are judged; Informal – modern restaurant offering contemporary cooking and service; and Traditional – where respect for regional cookery and the use of regional products and recipes are judged. The prizes will be awarded in early September and the competition dishes may be available in all the restaurants until November.
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13 de Julho
Allgarve Gourmet: Portimão opens the gastronomic festival season
The Allgarve Gourmet program begins on 16th July and for the first time it opens on its own, separate from the Sardine Festival. The first event will be held at Portimão Museum which won the “European Council Museum Award”. The festival will include live cooking shows and the chance to taste Algarve seafood and preserves. The ingredients will be reinvented by famous chefs in innovative and delicious recipes, accompanied by the region’s top wines.
From 16th to 24th July, from 7pm until midnight, the public can visit the venue and meet the chefs, watch them prepare the dishes and taste the delicacies on display.
For the eight days of the festival, the former canning factory, now a museum, will house a gourmet restaurant and lounge, wine bar, beer bar, water bar, and after-dinner coffee lounge, as well as a small stage for live music and DJ’s. Admittance to the Portimão Allgarve Gourmet festival ranges from 10 euros (including 2 degustation dishes + wine and water + coffee) and 15 euros (including 4 degustation dishes + wine and water + coffee), and also includes an optional free visit of the museum.
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22 de Junho
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