Vila Rosa Local Accommodation
A new local accommodation is born in Vale do Peso! As of today, Despensa Franciscana opens the doors of its latest project, Vila Rosa.
Este alojamento é ideal para quem procura uma estadia tranquila para conhecer e passar algum tempo na região do Alto Alentejo. A casa foi totalmente reconstruída, possui um quarto, sala de estar, casa de banho, "kitchenette" (equipada com fogão, forno, micro-ondas, torradeira, frigorifico e máquina de café) e sofá cama com capacidade para duas pessoas.
There are always good reasons to visit the Alentejo, and now there's one more. We look forward to your visit!
Vila Rosa
Rua D. João da Câmara, 18
7430-358 Vale do Peso
Contact: +351 939 341 097
email: susanadematos@gmail.com
Fransciscan tart
Ingredients:
- 1 shortcrust pastry
- Franciscan sour cherry jam to taste
- 3 eggs
- 80g sugar
- 20cl cream
- 150g almond powder
- 40g slivered almonds
- Sour cherries to taste
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 180º. Place the shortcrust pastry in a round glass pyrex, chop it up and cover the bottom with Franciscan cherry jam. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cream and almond powder. Pour over the stoned sour cherries that have been drained of their liqueur. Stir everything together until the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake at 180º for 30/35 minutes. Serve the tart with a glass of Franciscan sour cherry.
PICNICS Alentejo with the Franciscan Pantry
At Despensa Franciscana we can organise and provide picnics in Alentejo, where you can taste the main delicacies of our region, from wines, cheeses, sausages, olive oil, honey, jams, cakes, bread and, of course, our ginjinha, which can never be missing.
We have some solutions available to make this experience unforgettable:
Picnic boxesWe have prepared a box for the whole family or friends to take with them during their stay in the region, where the products can be tasted at any viewpoint or location of your choice.
Franciscan experienceThe picnic takes place in our ginjal and you can also enjoy a ginjinha tasting in our cellar.
Experience at home or in the yardAre you having a group of friends round and don't know how to surprise them?
Despensa Franciscana takes care of everything, coming to your home or backyard and putting together a real Alentejo picnic.
All experiences are available upon prior reservation and are subject to confirmation.
Contacts for information and bookings:
Franciscan pantry
Rua do Apeadeiro
Quinta Nova
7430-356 Vale do Peso
Tel +351 939 341 097
Email: geral@despensafranciscana.com
Wine Tasting at Quinta da Fonte Souto in Portalegre
Quinta da Fonte Souto is located in the heart of the Serra de S. Mamede Natural Park, between 490 and 550 metres above sea level. It wasn't the first time we visited this farm, this time with the aim of finding out about the experiences it has to offer all those who visit our region and want to explore more of this family business or even those who live nearby and want to spend a different day. We've already told you the story of this farm, which you can revisit here. at this link.
On a sunny morning we went to meet Zé Alberto and Luís, two friendly hosts from Quinta da Fonte Souto who are currently in charge of customer experiences, ranging from guided tours of the estate, wine tastings, picnics and bike rides through the vineyards.
We had the opportunity to repeat the guided tour, visit the buildings, remember the history that is breathed in the 207 hectares of the estate and finish with a tasting of the main wines produced by the brand in this region. We tasted the references:
- Quinta da Fonte Souto White 2022 - a wine with hints of vanilla, notes of white plum contrasting with citrus fruits;
- Quinta da Fonte Souto red 2019 - a juicy wine with forest fruit flavours and a hint of clove;
- Florão Branco 2022 - aromas of white fruit, with apricot and pineapple in the spotlight, with a hint of tropical fruit.
- Quinta da Fonte Souto Rosé 2022 - with orange tones, it has aromas of lily, hibiscus and orange blossom. There are also hints of pomegranate and apricot to complete the bouquet.
The wines from this estate benefit from the cooler climatic conditions of the Alentejo plains, favoured by the Serra de S. Mamede both in terms of climate and altitude, which means that the end products are of excellent quality.
We were enamoured of this experience and would like to leave it as a suggestion from the Franciscan Pantry to our friends and followers.
The contact details for bookings are:
Quinta da Fonte Souto
Alegrete - Reguengo and S. Julião road
7300-404 Portalegre
Tel +351 910104 292
Email: reservas@fontesouto.com
Prawns with Franciscan sauce
Do you want to surprise your friends with a simple, quick recipe with a spectacular result?
Today we present you with our recipe for prawns with Franciscan sauce, a fresh starter that's great for this time of year.
Ingredients (2 people)):
- 8 boiled prawns
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (preferably homemade)
- 2 dessertspoons fried tomato or pepper mustard
- 2 teaspoons mustard
- 20 ml Franciscan sour cherry
- 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
- pepper and salt to taste
- lettuce
Method of preparation:
Peel the prawns and cut the previously washed lettuce into julienne shapes and set aside. Place the mayonnaise, fried tomatoes and mustard in a bowl and mix well. Add the chilli, lemon, pepper and salt and mix again.
Place the lettuce in a bowl and drizzle with the Franciscan dressing, arrange the prawns to taste on top and finish with more dressing.
You can serve it straight away or leave it in the fridge until serving to intensify the freshness of the ingredients.
Enjoy your meal.
36 Tapas House - A new venue in Castelo de Vide
We were contacted by 36 Tapas House in Castelo de Vide, who were interested in acquiring our Franciscan ginjinha for their newly opened premises.
On the day of the delivery, we went to Castelo de Vide to meet the founders of this project, Neli and Jackson, and we were amazed by the space, the concept, the friendliness, the welcome and... the food. As soon as you walk through the front door, you don't realise whether you're in the Alentejo, Lisbon, Porto or any other European capital.
The founders, whose origins are Brazilian, trained in contemporary cuisine and have taken various courses in gastronomy, not only in Brazil but more recently in Europe. A few years ago they decided to spend more time in Europe, even more time in Portugal, and it was very quick for them to arrive in the Alentejo. They say they are passionate about this region and that although they have tried other parts of the country, it was here that they identified with the region, the people and all the tourism that Castelo de Vide has to offer. They decided to create a tapas house concept, using seasonal ingredients, created some signature dishes that are fixed on the menu and intend to launch new delicacies every season so that the offer to the customer is more comprehensive. Their concept is sustainable, contemporary and very relaxed. Our experience, to the sound of jazz music, was very enriching.
Each dish told a story and each taste became an inspiration. A place to visit with friends, to catch up and savour some rich and varied tapas, accompanied by a good wine and, at the end of the meal, the Franciscan ginjinha.
Beef Steak with Onions and Sour Cherry Liqueur Reduction
Ingredients:
- 1 sirloin steak
- Olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder to taste.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 50 ml Franciscan sour cherry liqueur
- Sour cherries (optional)
Preparation:
Season the steak with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder and set aside.
Soften the butter in a frying pan, dice the onion and sauté in the butter until translucent. Add the sour cherry liqueur and stir until reduced (about 7 minutes). Set aside.
In a frying pan, add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 crushed garlic cloves and sear the steak on one side and then the other for 1 minute, so that it is cooked on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Remove the steak and slice, arrange on a board and add the reduction on top.
Alternatively, you can add sour cherries to the reduction itself and cook them together.
Enjoy your meal!
Melaria Monte Novo
One of the main aims of Despensa Franciscana is to promote and publicise the history behind the businesses located in the Alto Alentejo region. This time we went to Vale Lavrador in Caia to visit a melaria, a very interesting and well-recognised family business in our region.
Élia and Jorge, the founders and mentors of this project, are from Alentejo, Élia from Ponte Sor and Jorge from Portalegre. They met 13 years ago when Élia went to work in Portalegre.
Élia trained in educational and socio-cultural animation and did a postgraduate course in social gerontology. In 2010 she was working in vocational training as an IEFP trainer when she met Jorge. She jokingly told us that she knew all his family except Jorge himself, but since they met they've never let go of each other. They realised all the personal and professional affinities they had with each other and set to work. They got married and started life in the Vale Lavrador/Caia region near the city of Portalegre.
After the wedding, Élia worked as a technical director of a nursing home and Jorge in agriculture/apiculture. He is a trained beekeeper and cattle farmer.
At weekends Élia helped her husband with the apiaries and began to get involved with the world of bees, which slowly entered her life and never left.
Ficou fascinada com o mundo da apicultura e começou a estudar sobre o tema. Cada vez mais envolvida, começou o curso de jovem agricultora em 2014 e, juntamente com o marido, começaram a pensar em ser sócios e abrir uma empresa. Assim foi, abriram a M.C.M. Sociedade Agrícola Lda. em 2015 através do projeto de jovem agricultora. O nome da empresa é uma homenagem ao nome da filha de ambos que nasceu no ano em que deram início à sociedade: MCM - Margarida Correia Morais.
Work at the company was growing and, in 2018, Élia was forced to make a decision in her life - a very difficult one, as she said - and began dedicating 100% to the company, leaving the right job for the wrong one.
One of the projects they had in mind was to open a primary honey factory with thermal packaging conditions, which was completed in 2024 after a few years of struggle.
They currently have the Monte Novo honey factory, which extracts honey and packs it in jars and in bulk. They sell to local businesses in the Alto Alentejo region as a priority.
They have several beehives in the municipality, in the area of the Serra de S. Mamede natural park, and therefore hold the Natural.PT label, a label only awarded to brands that produce in natural parks in the country and are in harmony with this concept.
In the future, they intend to continue to establish themselves as a local brand and to continue with educational projects for primary schools and to welcome children to the honey factory, explaining and showing the little ones the importance of the bee on our planet. They have another project called "A Abelha vai à escola" (The bee goes to school), where schools have the opportunity to receive Élia to explain the honey cycle.
He says that there are still children who don't know how honey is made or all that goes into the process and he considers it extremely important to publicise this natural product with so many health benefits. The bee is the biggest pollinator on our planet and she says it's very important that this information and knowledge is passed on.
They can also accommodate groups for tastings.
It was a great pleasure for us to make this visit and to enrich our knowledge of this rich and natural product. If you love this nectar, you can buy it in our online shop.
M.C.M. Sociedade Agrícola, Lda
Melaria mel Monte Novo
Vale Lavrador
7300-561 Urra
Contact: 969 405 499/966 817 704
Email: melmontenovo@gmail.com
Chef Jacinta's Lamb Stew and Sarapatel Soup by Restaurante O Lagarteiro
We went to meet Chef Jacinta and took over her kitchen for a day to learn how to make the famous lamb stew and sarapatel soup, an Easter tradition in the Alentejo. This tradition is closely linked to Easter Monday and, consequently, to the Jewish-Christian culture to which this region is closely linked, in which Alentejans go to the countryside (weather permitting) and celebrate this feast by making "the lunch of the lamb" after an Easter fast. It should be noted that this dish is also the king of the traditional Easter Sunday lunch.
We learnt how to make these delicacies and then tasted them with a good wine from the region, Terras do Crato Red, which harmonises very well with these flavours.
Restaurante O Lagarteiro, in Gáfete, is a benchmark in the Alto Alentejo, with quality service and where you can find all the flavours typical of our region.
INGREDIENTS
The quantities should be adjusted to the number of people.
- Lamb
- Salt to taste
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 1 sprig of mint
- 4 chopped garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves for meat + 2 for boiling potatoes
- 1 chopped onion
- Sweet paprika to taste
- Nutmeg to taste
- Cloves to taste
- Mixture of black and white pepper
- 1 glass of white wine
- 1 glass of water
- Potatoes for baking
- Olive oil to taste
PREPARATION:
Season the meat with salt and set aside for 20 minutes.
Sauté the onion in a little olive oil, as the lamb will release more natural fat. Then add the lamb to the sauté, stir well and add the remaining ingredients: garlic, bay leaves, chopped parsley, paprika, pepper, nutmeg and cloves. When the ingredients are mixed with the meat, pour in the white wine and leave to cook for a while. Then add the water and simmer for 1 hour, adding more water and adjusting the seasoning if necessary. Before the end of cooking, add a generous sprig of mint to freshen up the dish.
Serve with previously boiled potatoes (in water, bay leaves and salt) and toasted bread.
For the sarapatel soups, the preparation method is the same, we just replace the lamb meat with the fressuras (lamb's liver, heart and lungs) cut thinly. At the end we drizzle with vinegar and serve with bread and slices of orange.
This recipe is a suggestion from Chef Jacinta, who has been running the Lagarteiro Restaurant in Gáfete for over 20 years.
Bon appetit and a happy Easter!
O Lagarteiro Restaurant
Rua de S. Marcos, 1
7430-287 Gáfete
Contact: 245 790 113
CONCEITOS DE ESQUINA with Susana Guerra
We went to Campo Maior to visit the Conceitos de Esquina shop and talk to its founder, Susana Guerra, while sipping a creamy coffee from the local brand. We discovered yet another extremely interesting project that we really fell in love with.
Susana Guerra was born in Elvas but moved to Campo Maior at the age of 3 for her parents' professional reasons. She grew up and studied in Campo Maior, took a professional technical course in business management and in 1997 started working at Delta Cafés, the region's largest employer, where she stayed for 24 years, 19 of which in accounting and logistics and 5 years in management.
Along the way, she married and had children and when her eldest son went to university, Susana and her husband thought it would make sense to have a job and extra income to cover the family's expenses.
That's when they began to play with wood and developed some small pieces. The fun became more serious and the next thing they knew they had their hands full. They started expanding to all regions and sending personalised pieces all over the country. The launch pad for this new business was an appearance at FIAPE (Estremoz International Agricultural and Livestock Fair) in 2022, and from then on they never stopped.
Susana vê-se obrigada a deixar o seu trabalho de mais de duas décadas na Delta Cafés e, em Janeiro de 2023, dedicou-se exclusivamente ao projeto das madeiras, criou uma marca juntamente com o marido - “Create for You by LG” e os dois decidiram abrir uma loja no centro de Campo Maior para fazer face ao leque de clientes que já tinham e também porque sentiram a necessidade de ter uma loja física, que abriu portas em Maio de 2023.
This project, in addition to the wide range of clients scattered all over the place, has the support of renowned restaurants and chefs who use the boards to arrange their delicacies when they serve them at the table.
In the Conceitos de Esquina shop you'll find a varied display of boards, other wood-based craft items and a range of carefully selected, high-quality regional products from the Alentejo. Our Despensa Franciscana brand has been included in this selection and those who visit the shop will be able to find our ginjinha, jam, biscuits and therapeutic sour cherry stone cushions.
This shop has a concept of unique pieces and they never repeat a piece. If you want to buy a board with your name or logo personalised, you can do so through our online shop.
Corner Concepts
Tv. Combatants of the Great War 2
7370-075 Campo Maior
Contact: 968049150
