Feijoada de choco, or squid and bean stew.
Organised by the Tourism and Hotelier's School of the
Algarve, the culinary event was also supervised with
expert gastronomic input from the regional Gastronomic
Fraternity Board, as well as the Association of Cooks
and Pastry Chefs of the Algarve.
Now a yearly occurrence, the ‘Festa da Partilha'
(Party for Sharing) followed last year's mammoth
gaspacho, which was served on Portimão's riverfront and
set a new Guinness World Record.
Despite not quite making Guinness this year, the
oversized stew entailed huge quantities of ingredients,
enough for an anticipated 3000 hungry visitors, and
included 30 kilos of onions, 180 kilos of squid, 150
kilos of white beans, and 60 kilos of sweet potato,
which had the added particularity of being a regional
ingredient, exclusive to the Aljezur area.
José Manuel Dias of the Algarve Gastronomic
Fraternity Board explained, "We wanted to bring a dish
to the event that was indigenous to the region and
comprised ingredients of both the land and the sea. We
wanted to revive the sweet potato, and this is what we
came up with".
The ‘Festa da Partilha' is an ancient tradition that
stems from the era of the discoveries.
As José Manuel Dias told The Portugal News, "In the
era of the discoveries the vessels would be loaded with
food and whatever was left over, instead of being thrown
away, would be cooked and divided amongst the local
population. It became a sort of tradition, and is one we
wanted to restart".
Within two hours of having started serving, the food
had been polished off, many people going back for second
servings – praise enough for what was a delicious free
meal.