Food lovers

For Food lovers, the Algarve has a lot to offer. If you love to try local dishes, we recommend you try conquilhas (donax clams) as a starter, grilled monkfish kebabs (Marisqueira Fialho) or any of the octopus dishes from the restaurant Baixamar as main courses, and carob, almond and fig tart as desert.

Other culinary experiences you might consider are:

- A visit to the artisan producer of award-winning olive oil, Monterosa Olive Oil which is just 7.4km from Casa Flor de Sal. They offer tours and tastings on the estate, which is home to 49 acres of olive groves. Here you can discover unique aspects of the olive tree culture, the olive oil production process and participate in an olive oil tasting. They show you the best way to compare olive oils and chose the ones you enjoy most. The tour lasts approximately 75 minutes.

- A visit to a local producer of artisanal liquors and jams. Fazenda do Cré is located 4.1km from Casa Flor de Sal and produces carob, strawberry-tree, tangerine, fig, oregano and other liquors following the methods used by the grand-mother of the current owner.

- A Tuc-Tuc Tour of Olhão and surroundings with a stop for tasting local wines and specialties.

- Some of our guests have enjoyed doing a Portuguese cooking class. Here, groups of 6 – 10 persons learn how to make bread in a wood-burning oven, or how to prepare a very typical Algarve seafood cataplana or how to prepare a Portuguese 3-course meal (e.g., fried goat cheese with chili, black pork loin with clams, and a traditional desert called “Farófias). Classes take around 4-5 hours, (can include a trip to Tavira market to purchase the ingredients) and finish with a relaxed meal where the cooks enjoy the fruits of their labor.

- While you are with us, you can taste the Algarve wines we have on offer, and, if you wish, we can tell you where the wineries are. Several of them offer wine tasting sessions.

- Finally, at allowed times of the year, we can take you to the lagoon picking cockles. Later, in the property, we can show how to prepare and cook them.

Marisqueira Fialho The Independent

"At this rustic, lagoon-facing fish restaurant between Livramento and Luz, the plastic chairs and Christmas-themed wall decorations do not do justice to the quality and quantity of mouth-wateringly fresh fish that is on offer. ...

...Go with a large appetite, skip the bread, and feast on monkfish espadas (skewers) and mixed seafood rice stew (arroz de marisco)."

The Independent

Monterosa olive oil by Wall Street Journal

For the last few years, Monterosa olive oils have been winning multiple medals at the major olive oil international competitions. For example, this year they have won two gold medals at the New York International Olive Oil Competition 2016 and a gold and a silver medal at the Japan competition.

The Wall Street Journal published an article on olive oil tasting, where one of Monterosa olive oils was one of the six best in the world.

The Algarve Cataplana guide

The word cataplana refers not only to the region’s most famous traditional dish but is also the name of the distinctive utensil used in its preparation.

This type of metal pan, originally made of copper or brass, consists of two concave halves joined by a hinge and with two side clips, enabling it to be closed tightly.