Local food, traditional dishes and regional specialties in Faro, selected for quality and authenticity.
The eastern Algarve's most traditional comfort dish — creamy corn polenta (xarém) cooked with small wedge clams (conquilhas), smoked bacon, fresh coriander and a Moorish heritage that goes back over 800 years.
Portugal's most iconic shellfish petisco — clams cooked with olive oil, garlic, fresh coriander, white wine and lemon. Named after 19th-century poet Bulhão Pato and served across the country, but freshest in Algarve coastal restaurants.
The Algarve's most theatrical seafood feast — prawns, clams, mussels, squid and aromatic vegetables steamed inside a hinged copper "cataplana" pan, opened tableside in a cloud of fragrant tomato and coriander.
The Algarve's signature confectionery tradition — almond, fig, sugar and egg yolk transformed into Dom Rodrigo, Morgado de Figo, Queijo de Figo and a dozen other heritage sweets that combine 800 years of Moorish and conventual influences.
