What's the food like in the markets in Algarve?

The food here in the Algarve is fantastic. There is no doubt that Portugal is a fantastic location for great food and a good life. 

 

There are two types of markets in Portugal. The first is the inland market, which is as you would imagine. These are the markets in the inland towns, which tend to focus on local produce that tends to be agriculture in nature, such as fruits, and other products grown from the land. The markets along the coast or those...

The food here in the Algarve is fantastic. There is no doubt that Portugal is a fantastic location for great food and a good life. 

 

There are two types of markets in Portugal. The first is the inland market, which is as you would imagine. These are the markets in the inland towns, which tend to focus on local produce that tends to be agriculture in nature, such as fruits, and other products grown from the land. The markets along the coast or those closer to the coastal towns have a much stronger presence of fish. You can find a huge variety of fish there. The markets are extremely colorful. They are wonderful in terms of organic produce and in supporting local communities because the vendors are all small producers like farmers or people who are growing cattle or pork. Along the coast, they support the local fishermen because the Algarve is still one of the last remaining places in the world for artisanal fishing, which is fishing done in the traditional way. The Algarve is one of the top five most represented for artisanal fishing. There are other locations with artisanal fishing such as some of the places in Mexico and some places in Italy, but the Algarve is one of the most well-known artisanal fishing locations, and one that hass survived in what is essentially a very populated tourist destination. 

 

The most famous market in the Algarve in the City of Loulé. It is a Saturday market, which happens in a purposely-built large market but that spills out into the street. It is a fantastic place to visit on a Saturday. You can find all sorts of produce there. I also recommend visiting the market in Silves, which is also a Saturday market. Make sure that you have steak for lunch and have chicken at the very famous chicken place right on the edge of the river. I also recommend visiting the market in Lagos, which is in a refurbished building right on the road that runs along the river. That market is superb. It has a huge variety fish. It also has bread, bakery products, meat, vegetables, and so on.  

 

The Algarve is a very international area, so we have plenty of supermarkets. The supermarkets here would be what you would expect in the US or in the UK. It would be like a Publix in the US or a Tesco in the UK. We have five or six well-known Portuguese brands as well. 

 

The difference between the supermarkets and the markets is that the supermarkets, as you would expect in every country, have a standard layout. The products are the same, they replenish the shelves, and they have all kinds of merchandise from food up to clothing. In contrast, the fresh markets are always focused on fresh produce. The suppliers bring whatever they have available that week, whether it be fruit, freshly-baked bread, spices that they have grown, fish, etc. They have seasonal products they bring to the market, which is one of the things that supports very strongly the whole concept of this Mediterranean Diet.

 

A lot of people think the Mediterranean Diet is all about using a lot of olive oil and garlic but it is actually more about following the seasons. You eat what is in season, so, for example, you wouldn’t have sea bass and sea bream in June just as you wouldn’t have sardines in December. It is about consuming the produce that grows naturally at a particular time of year.

 

(Municipal market of Loulé, Algarve, Portugal, pictured.)