It was cold. It was March & it was cold.
So my better half & I set off to Algarve in order to escape the bone freezing temperatures at home.
We found a breathtaking, endless, wide-stretching beach, blue skies & happy white clouds … & temperatures of about 15-20° C. (Of course the sea was far to cold w/ 14° C or so for any swimming … we don’t originate from Arctic regions!)
… and not each day performed with this beautiful blue sky!
We loved walking the beach along the rugged cliff line, indulging in lots of fresh air …
… admiring the beauty of shells …
However, we also had some bad weather. (I know: there isn’t any bad weather – there are only inappropriate clothes!)
That’s why … we are now approaching il dolce far niente!
Each day we had some nice hours in fresh air, then the sky started clouding, raindrops kept falling, winds started, sometimes it got really stormy … etc. etc. Time to relax & order an espresso, to do nothing challenging, but chilling out w/ a glass of wine & a book and/or music … In the beginning we had lots of plans exploring the Algarve by car … However, the weather didn’t cooperate!
So we finally accepted our fate & got used to il dolce far niente!
The seagulls didn’t care at all regardless of sun or rain or storm, of beach or swimming pool!
(They especially liked the empty pool …)
The (culinary) highlight was definitely Pasteis de Nata – Portugal’s signature pastry.
There is a classic (demanding) approach for creating these custard filled puff pastry shells from the scratch … I think an easy approach might be:
- Start w/ a muffin tin.
- Grab some frozen puff pastry & form pastry shells fitting in the muffin tin moulds.
- Prepare some custard based on a ready-to-use mix.
- Fill the custard in the pastry shells & let them bake in the oven.
… & I’m sure there are lots of versions for Pasteis de Nata out there!
Resumé: they are delicious!
Then our week was suddenly over … so … good bye, Algarve!
