Local Wine, Fairs and Open-Air Barbecuing

By: Mimi

Nothing beats the great outdoors for wetting your appetite. And when you are vacationing in a world removed from the norm experiencing another culture, your senses are heightened. This is what you get in many of the Fairs in Portugal.

Picture this: a cloudless sky…blissful warm temperatures…throngs of people…a dusty field brimming with vendors selling everything from wooden chairs to cutlery to live chickens…and the aroma of cooking meat.
Somewhere in Portugal an outdoor fair is taking place, rain or shine, daily, all-year-round. These fairs are really open-air supermarkets where anything can be found being sold.
A symphony of sounds surround you. Vendors shout their offers; buyers haggle over the price; music blares at a pitch that your ear drums throb; children squeal over the latest toy.

But for me the best part of these fairs is being able to go to a butcher and buy pork chops or spareribs, liver or a steak and then take them to where there are drums set up for barbecuing. Needless to say that most Health Boards would have heart failure seeing such a set up! Huge pots are boiling away with various specialties being prepared, like codfish served with chic peas or Portuguese-style beans. Salads and French Fries are usually available, along with crusty fresh bread. Ice cream coolers are packed with a variety of drinks including 5-liter jugs of home-made wine.

Long tables are set up under flapping tarps. White paper squares serve as tablecloths.  Chipped plates, a hodge-podge of cutlery and glasses of various sizes and shapes make-up the place setting. You season your meat and you barbecue it on the coals provided in the drums. Everyone is talking at the same time. Your glass is rarely empty, not necessarily from the bottle on your table, but a gracious neighbor that wants to share with you. The cooked meat goes on a slab of fresh bread and you feast while constantly washing it down with the best local wine available. It takes many espressos to regain composure and you never forget the taste of the feast.

Part of the culture, the Fairs in Portugal are also an excuse for a family outing or maybe an opportunity to meet old friends from a near by town.