Alcácer do Sal

From the waters of the Sado River and close to the ocean, grilled largemouth bass is traditional, as is eel stew, codfish and bread stew and corvina soup or soup using some other fish. And if not in soup, the fish can be found in pasta dishes. Rice is also important and made special with the addition of seafood, octopus or cuttlefish. We cannot forget the bivalves, which are very characteristic and appetising, as are Portuguese oysters, which have a wonderful reputation and are still today acclaimed as the “Les Portugaise”. Everything can be accompanied by the excellent wines of the Terras do Sado region.

Other Flavours: imbued with the Alentejo’s traditions, the flavours are connected to herbs and other wild plants (wild asparagus, truffles and olives). Noteworthy is carne de porco à alentejana (fried pork bits with clams), fried rabbit, mutton stew and roasted mutton, feijão adubado (bean stew), migas (cabbage or potatoes with bread), batatas de rebolão (potatoes with garlic and paprika) with spare ribs, tomato and purslane soup and the different rice varieties. The variety of sweets is irresistible and convent knowledge of sweets has been passed down throughout the years: salacianos, honey cake, pine nut tart, pinhoadas (pine nut candy), rebuçados de ovo “egg candy”, bolo real ”royal cake” and queijadas do Torrão.

Archaeological Crypt of Alcácer, a unique museum, excavated under a castle, which tells stories thousands of years old

Trips along the Sado River, on traditional boats

Palafítico Pier of Carrasqueira, the largest in Europe in the heart of the breathtaking Natural Reserve of the Sado Estuary. It is the masterpiece of a popular architect, constructed in the 50’s and 60’s using irregular wooden stakes, which look fragile, but which still today serves as a pier for fishing boats that still dock here

Vale do Gaio and Pego do Altar reservoirs for sport fishing, nautical activities and pedestrian tours – adventure or leisure

Natural Reserve of the Sado Estuary with four mandatory stops: Comporta (salt pans; rice fields, the rice museum and restaurants with Portuguese cuisine), Carrasqueira (Palafítico pier and thatched cottages – considered to be cultural heritage), Cachopos and Moinho da Murta (windmill with a geodesic dome on the roof which enables visitors to view the vast landscape, including Serra da Arrábida).

Historical Centre, with its wrought iron verandas

Beaches along the Atlantic coast (Comporta and Tróia)

Flavours of the Land – April

Flavours of the Ocean and River – June

Flavour Festival – food and drink stalls with ocean flavours, sale of shrimp from the Sado River and entertainment – July

Game Flavours – September and October

Pimel, gastronomic exhibitions and competitions, sweets, honey, snacks, conferences and debates, running of the bulls, equestrian shows and exhibition of the region’s products and services – June

15^th Century Torrão, a return to the time of Bernardim Ribeiro (from the renaissance) with a historical re-enactment. The residents dress for the occasion and the streets are decorated. Visitors can savour the sweets and cuisine of those times. There are weapons demonstrations and falconry, poetry readings, theatre pieces, music, folk dancing, celebrations and games

The Feira Nova, display and sale of traditional products, with special emphasis on figs and walnuts – 1^st weekend in October

Sweet Potato Festival in Carvalhal/Comporta – October / November

Festival in honour of Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes, in Carrasqueira – end of August

Santos Populares (“Popular Saints”) Festivals, the streets of Alcácer do Sal’s historical centre are boldly “painted” by the hands of numerous volunteers, who decorate them using various things, and in many cases using recycled materials – June