One of the major gastronomic wonders of the Algarve is the quantity of different produce in close proximity. The sea and mountain make this possible. We have a huge quantity of fish, shellfish and cetacea on one hand, and on the other, a wide variety of things grown and reared on terra firma, where we can find sweet potato, peanut, pork fattened with leftovers and, in this case, string or bush beans. Of the 60 varieties of bean that exist in the country, this one is different, as it can be cooked for a long time alongside ingredients like meat, making everything very tasty. António Rosa seeks to re-introduce this local produce, which is used increasing rarely, by growing it himself.
For a very long time, the population of the Algarve have migrated from the mountain to the coast, looking for work and food and leading to a magical combination of flavours. In this dish, the hand-caught squid – using a tóneira, a device that allows line fishing with the aid of colourful bait (which is why it’s often called a clown), and hooks – meets Iberian pork, fed with sweet potato, which is very common in the South-East Algarve. Here we have a dish with a range of flavours, cooked slowly over a wood-burning fire.
