During the afternoon, while the sun began its slow descent, the Big Day Market hosted a party with an infectious bombo (drum) class given by Tiago Pereira. The meal, which brought together three chefs from three different parts of the country, was a surprise kept for the end of the show.
The idea was to prepare something from a particular cut of Alentejo pork, where each chef chose a part of the animal and cooked it the way they wanted.
Representing the Alentejo, Chef José Júlio Vintém opted for a less popular part of the pig, the tail, and a more appreciated part, the spare ribs. The chef grilled the ribs with a sweet and sour sauce made from honey, vinegar and rosemary and made coriander pork with the tails.
The loin was the choice of Chef José Pinheiro, who brought some Algarve inspiration to the proceedings. His recipe was minced Alentejo pork, pickled figs and Aragonez tendrils, much to the delight of those present.
“I tried to combine the Alentejo pork with some of Esporão’s excellent products. I used vinegar, honey, fortified wine, table wine and tendrils, as well as one of the most popular fruit at this time, figs. The figs were pickled with a bittersweet maceration to balance with the pork fat. Being from the Algarve, I added a twist from my homeland with cockles, in order to give it a salty counterpoint to the sweetness of the pork. And then I finished with some tender tendril tips from Esporão’s Aragonez vines, in my opinion, the single varietal wine that best accompanies this food.” Chef José Pinheiro
Chef Margarida Rego travelled from Minho to the Alentejo to share her passion for cooking. To get to know her better, what better than seeing her do what she loves, preparing a leg and shoulder of pork that was roasted in a wood-burning oven for 5 hours.
“This dish is my tiny tribute to Esporão – a single joint, made to be shared, prepared with everything that I am and know, cooked slowly, revealing its true essence”. Chef Margarida Rego