Food and Wine
It’s at the table that we socialize best, perhaps because the flavors allow it. In the Arouca Geopark, there are many (and tasty) pretexts for getting together at the table. Delight yourself with dishes based on Arouquês cattle: oven-roasted Arouquês veal, Alvarenga-style Arouquês steak or grilled Arouquês steak. You can look for a Geofood restaurant and choose dishes using regional products. Of course, you can’t miss one of our Vinho Verde wines, produced in the region. Finally, regional and monastic sweets can accompany your coffee or digestive. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Arouquesa breed
The mountain landscape wouldn’t have the same life without the arouquês that populate these parts. Slow-moving, friendly but easily frightened, these animals are unusually robust, given the few food resources they have on the mountain slopes. In some cases, they even replace machines. The peacefulness and beauty of the mountains where they live are also part of their lives.
Raça Arouquesa
Raça Arouquesa
Carne Arouquesa
Carne Arouquesa
Carne Arouquesa
Arouquois meat
Arouquês meat has a unique flavor that no one can resist after tasting it. This meat has become a real ex-libris in Arouca, combining traditional recipes with innovation. The meat’s well-known reputation was demonstrated, for example, at the Great Paris Exhibition of 1878, when it was the only Portuguese product to receive an award. Don’t forget to add a touch of refinement to your veal arouquesa dishes with a vinho verde produced in one of the many farms in the Arouca Geopark.
Where to find it
Roast kid from Gralheira
One of the secrets of this region’s roast kid is that it is cooked in a wood-fired oven. Another has to do with the fact that the animals are raised in freedom, next to the green pastures and in the shade of the mountains. This is another unique flavor that you’ll want to discover during your visit to the Arouca Geopark.
Cabrito Assado da Gralheira
Where to find it
Conventual sweets
The passage of the nuns through Arouca left its mark on the gastronomy of Arouca. Even today, we still secretly keep the recipes for the finest and most exquisite monastic sweets in the country, real temptations that you can (and should) taste. You won’t find a better dessert than the convent sweets that are produced here, and only here.
The sweet chestnuts, cigars and almond rusks, as well as the nun’s bellies, which were nominated for one of the 7 Wonders of Portugal, are particularly noteworthy.
Charutos de Amêndoa
Parideiras
Bolo de Chila
Pão de São Bernardo
Barrigas de Freira
Castanhas Doces
Roscas de Amêndoa
Where to find it
Regional sweets
The regional sweets that can be found in Arouca date back to ancient times and can be found at two of the main points of sale in our region. A. Teixeira Pinto and Alberto Teixeira Pinto are two places to stop if you’re visiting the region and want to get to know our regional sweets. Pão de ló de Arouca (wet in slices and dry in balls), cavacas and melindres, although not of convent origin, are also popular sweets in Arouca.
Pão de Ló
Fatias de Pão de Ló
Cavacas
Where to find it
Jams, Jellies and Marmalades
Jams, jellies and marmalade are delicious ways of preserving food, combining different culinary processes using sugar, fruit and other vegetables such as carrots and pumpkins. These jams preserve the natural flavors of the ingredients and offer a variety of tasty options to enjoy throughout the year.
Compota
Compotas
Broa
Broa
Cornbread, also known as pão de milho, was the family bread and the oven was regularly lit for another batch. Corn flour, water, salt and the crescent were added to the dough, which, after being well kneaded and blessed, was left to rise. A little rye flour was added to create a binder. The dough would then be passed through the polish or tenderizer to take the shape of a bread. It was then placed in the oven with the help of a wooden paddle.
- Yellow Corn Bread
- White corn bread
- Sweet corn bread
Honey and Bee Products
Honey has gained a prominent place in Portuguese gastronomy and is considered a truly special and versatile ingredient, full of health benefits, which enriches local and regional cuisine, providing unique flavors and nutritional benefits. Its characteristics depend on the flora pollinated by the region’s bees and in the Arouca Geopark we find it:
- Heather honey
- Eucalyptus honey
- Multifloral honey
- Pollen
- Propolis
Mel
Favo de mel
Quinta Corgo d’Água
Sausages
Sausages play a fundamental role in Portuguese gastronomy and their history is intrinsically linked to our tradition and culture. These cured meats emerged to avoid waste and guarantee a source of food during the harshest months. Over time, recipes and techniques have been developed that have improved sausages, giving them a prominent place in cuisine.
- Ham
- Salpicão
- Meat sausage
- Blood sausage
- Alheira
- Smoked pork belly
Green Wines and Spirits
The region’s vinho verde wines come from family traditions and are gaining prominence on the gastronomic scene. Innovation takes its place in the preparation of local products from traditional recipes, such as liqueurs and spirits with unparalleled flavors.
Associated Producers:
Quinta da Sra. do Monte
Pinguça – Eduardo Noronha Dias Distillery
Vinho Verde
Pinguça
Pinguça
