Eating in Alcáçovas is always a pleasure. Our gastronomy is an appreciation of the cultural heritage, not only of our village but of the entire Alentejo region. Its through it’s promotion that our restaurants make our local dishes and custom flavours cross borders. It is our belief that the flavors of Alcáçovas and the Alentejo can reach other countries, thus becoming international in taste and culture.
As a traditional Alentejano dish, we have the Cabidela Rice (Rice cooked in blood). Some of the ingredients of this recipe are: turkey blood and some offal, onions, bay leaves, parsley, olive oil, white wine, salt and pepper. Please notice that the way to cook this dish varies from village to village. Nevertheless, it is a 100% characteristic dish from Alentejo.
In Alentejo, There is no vegetable with more names than this kind of pumpkin: pumpkin, girl, porridge, mogango among others. In Alcáçovas they call it “bogango”! But what really matters is that with this type of pumpkin is the culinary basis of one of the most characteristic soups of the Alentejo, the Sopa de Mogango (Mogango Soup). Besides the pumpkin, the recipe includes beans, garlic, coriander, olive oil and salt.
Sopa de Tomate (Tomato soup) is also a dish that is very characteristic to us, cooked essentially in the height of winter, in the period of the harvesting of the tomato. The recipe also includes onion, garlic, olive oil and bay leaf, ripe tomatoes, water, salt, eggs, white potatoes, green or red peppers and codfish. It is to be served with slices of bred.
Migas de espargos (Migas of Asparagus), a dish so tasty and so ours, made from a base of bread crums. So ours because only cooked with the Alentejo’s bread it reaches the original taste, texture and flavour of the Alentejo region. The dish is cooked with garlic, olive oil and asparagus. Just add the bread and stir until it has the desired texture. It is always accompanied with deep fried pork and oranges.
Cozido à portuguesa (Portuguese traditional stew) is a very usual dish in Alentejo. The recipe includes a variety of cooked meats, including pork ear, sparkle, bacon, pork tail, sausage, chicken and some beef. In the water where the meat is cooked, all the vegetables are cooked to taste: green beans, white or sweet potatoes, turnips, carrots, among others. It is served with bread soups and mint leaves.
