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.