This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
Beyond the Tagus, the most rural of the regions of Portugal invites us to take all our time to tame it. How right she is…
It’s time for sweet revenge for the Alentejo! Long an obligatory stop on the road to the Algarve, a star destination in southern Portugal, now people come here especially for what it is: agricultural, authentic, languid. “We used to be considered backward, and now we’re trendy! sums up Libânio Reis, tourist guide in Évora, the regional capital. Fashionable, so to speak: 460,000 foreign tourists (including 14,000 Canadians) stayed there in 2022. We know of a few busier Costcos…
Along with the Alentejo, Évora, an adorable town, proud of its well-preserved Roman temple, will also be the European capital of culture in 2027. The theme put forward? ” Vagar, an (other) art of living for humanity. ” In Portuguese, wander means “stroll”, and we could not find a better watchword to encourage us to wander from a white village perched high up in a workshop of craftsmen by the sea bordered by rice fields!
Stretching between the Atlantic and Spain, and from the left bank of the Tejo (Tage) to the mountains of the Algarve, the territory occupies 30% of the country. In its northeast, the route of the castles leads to Castelo de Vide, to the magnificent Marvão, to Portalegre. In its heart, place in the plain, in the vineyard, in the olive trees, in the almond trees, in the sunflowers, in the breedings of sheep and black pigs (the pig preto, which we enjoy), as well as other fortified villages, such as this little gem that is Monsaraz. As for its coastline, it unrolls its wild beaches as far as the eye can see.
The necessary time
In Évora, where we had been four decades ago, we find a town practically unchanged. “There has been no urban pressure inland, because it is the coast that we have developed,” explains Mr. Reis.
Seated at the picturesque pastelaria Pão de Rala, we nibble on delicacies that have also survived the passage of time. Our beijinhos of freira (nuns’ kisses) were born in a monastery centuries ago when the nuns, using egg white to starch their outfits, contrived to recover the yolks in pastry creations of their own. So we savor them piano, pianopractically reverently.
The oak that gives this cork, of which Portugal is the world’s leading producer, teaches us a lesson about the time it takes to do things right… In the Pepe Aromas plantation, in Vale do Pereiro, commercial director Micaela Amorim tells how much this tree, which lives around 200 years on average, tests the patience of the planter. “We have to wait 25 years before harvesting the first cork, she says, and it will probably not be very good. “With any luck, she will be better nine years later, and sometimes, than in nine more years. We will then continue to debark the oaks every nine years, for a maximum of 15 times. “So when we plant these trees, now protected, it’s practically for our grandchildren! »
Along the traditions
Being part of this unique agroforestry ecosystem called montado, the Herdade do Esporão, a pioneer in wine tourism and sustainable viniculture, works at the same pace imposed by Mother Nature. Located on the Reguengos side of Monsaraz, the huge 1,840-hectare estate includes a certified organic vineyard and olive grove, as well as a vegetable garden, which supplies its restaurant, winner of a Michelin star for its cuisine and a green star for its sustainable best practices. Here, at lunchtime, it’s better to have the whole afternoon in front of you, because the menu of young chef Carlos Teixeira comes in five or seven memorable “moments”, dishes that he gently refines, “season after season since five years”, and that you can pair good house wines.
In the same locality, the Fabrica alentejana de lanificios displays its magnificent woolen fabrics, of the same style as those in which the shepherds once wrapped themselves to protect themselves in winter from the cold and in summer from the sun. Co-owner Luis Peixe explains the reasons for this – “the diamond represented for the Moors the eye of God” – and notes how much there seems to be an increasing interest in local heritage. As if to prove him right, a young couple from Los Angeles seems ready to raid his blankets, rugs, poufs and cushions!
Unlike Californians, who will shun the sea to “go sightseeing slow in the countryside”, we head for the coast, not without making a small detour via Alqueva and its impressive reservoir, which waters the whole region. Then, to us the fishing villages that are Zambujeira do Mar, a real favorite, Vila Nova de Milfontes and Porto Covo!
See the sea and the rice fields
I’water (rice) with duck, chourico (sausage) and seafood (including razor clams, lingueirao) being on almost every menu in this part of the country, we want to go where the cereal is grown. It is then that we discover another fascinating ecosystem, that of Comporta.
On the Tróia peninsula, a strip of land 25 kilometers long, Comporta groups together seven villages, including the town of the same name, between the sea, the pine forest, the mirrors of the rice fields, the Sado river estuary (yum, its oysters!) and its nature reserve. As for the village, it has 800 souls and, at a glance, a hundred storks, 10 and a quarter streets, six restaurants, and old rice warehouses, converted here into a museum, there into a chic market. We hardly dare to imagine the great tourist circus that plays out in August in this upscale destination, but for the time being, the beach of Comporta, located a few kilometers away, is deserted to perfection.
Imagine a seafront that nothing spoils, just two cafes for miles around, golden dunes, the Atlantic and its birds, peace.
How complete our happiness would be if the hours here were lengthened…
Carolyne Parent was the guest of the Portuguese Tourist Office.
This content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.