It is wine harvest season in Alentejo and I traveled to Monsaraz to visit São Lourenço do Barrocal. I expected a beautiful Alentejo property. What I found was one of the clearest examples I have encountered of what agritourism and gastrotourism in the region can become. Because Barrocal is not simply a hotel surrounded by agriculture. The agriculture is part of the experience. José António Uva, the eighth generation of his family at Barrocal, had the vision to bring a histori

Last week, I travelled to Barrancos, at the eastern edge of the Alentejo, to visit Casa do Porco Preto (Barrancarnes – Transformação Artesanal, SA.) I went there with one thing in my mind, how Portugal can create more value around one of its great food traditions (presunto) and help preserve the ecosystem behind it. During my visit, our conversation with João moved from Porco Alentejano and the montado to maturation, changing consumer habits and an idea I particularly liked:

Some ingredients become prestigious because they are rare. Others become extraordinary because a culture refuses to treat them as ordinary. The sardine belongs firmly to the second category. Few countries have embraced this small, oily fish as deeply as Portugal and Japan. Thousands of kilometres apart, both have developed a remarkable relationship with a fish historically associated with affordability and everyday food. Yet what fascinates me is not simply that both cultures