Away in a Manger

We drove up into the mountains from the town of Caniço, parked and followed a ‘caminho’, an old ‘royal road’ down to the restaurant. A word of warning guys; don’t wear your strappy stilettos or a tight dress.

The road is rough and more of a challenge after a few glasses of wine.

A sign outside says ‘Coffee Bar’ which I believe is some sort of decoy. The door was locked so I pulled on a length of twine running through a small hole in the middle of it. A bell rang somewhere inside. It was a scene from the ‘Rocky Horror Show’!

The ‘royal’ road is rough but less of a challenge going up the way - after a few glasses of wine.

Eventually, Dr. Frank-N-Furter appeared… sorry Inácio, I shouldn’t talk that way about you!

Aperitifs are served on the veranda to let you savour the view with your starters…

For starters, we sat on an enclosed veranda with a view… and what a view! The Atlantic Ocean and Desertas Islands can just be seen at the end of a deep, green ravine. It’s quite wild, windswept and interesting!

DENTINHO

‘Dentinho’ is what they call appetisers here in Portugal which loosely translates as ‘little tooth’ (also the nickname of the diminutive Brazilian striker - though I notice his distinctive dental gap has recently disappeared).

Starters appeared in small, simple terracotta bowls! The liver tasted nothing like liver! My mother used to try and hoodwink me into eating the stuff with little success. If she ever prepared it like this, there would have been no arguments. In fact, I’d have asked for more… which on this occasion, I did!

Accompanying green beans, savoury garlic carrots and succulent olives were paired with a lank, white ‘Principal Grande Reserva 2011’ from the region of Bairrada in the heart of mainland Portugal.

‘Inês’, the house cat, otherwise known as ‘The Queen’ keeps an eye on proceedings but was never intrusive - unless you wanted her to be!

CULINARY MAN CAVE

Inácio has turned his family farm into a lovely escape.

I was surprised to learn from Emanuel, our local fixer and friend that this place was once a cowshed! A former manger has been repurposed to perfection and regularly welcomes all sorts of wise guys & gals.

Inácio, the owner, clearly loves what he’s doing and besides being the head chef, it was he who singlehandedly converted this former steading into a culinary man-cave.

Before he turned to the gastro-life, Inácio was a carpenter. Not satisfied with fitting aluminium windows on the Portuguese mainland, he took a job in a tiny restaurant in Odeceixe, a village in the north of the Algarve. The native Madeiran already had a flair for cooking gained from his mother but over the next 8 years, he acquired a whole new skillet set, so to speak.

Then, twelve years ago he came home and opened Casa dos Salgados. People told him, “Don’t do that! Nobody will go there!” Even his wife goaded him, “Are you going to do it there? In that place?”

It’s now one of the more popular restaurants on the island where our humble carpenter has given free rein to both his passions.

I love the way he’s put this place together. It really does feel like his own personal man cave! The interior design is arboreal in a warm, welcoming way, the walls lined with side panels from the many wooden wine boxes that make their way here on a weekly basis.

The approach to the food has a similar pragmatic appeal. The mains are unfussy yet succulent and perfectly prepared, a codfish dish to get us going then black pig from Alentejo. They call Alentejo pig ‘wild pork’ but it’s actually free-range rather than the Wild Boar variety that you find in Italy and France. The fat is infused into the meat making it all the more flavourful.

NICE RICE

But what was really interesting was the rice! I know, I know! I shouldn’t get so excited about supplementary carbs but this ‘arroz’, mixed with a few black beans and cubes of fatty pork was seriously savoury!

Inácio told us, “They kill the pigs locally, usually at around one year old. Then the meat goes into a big box and is covered in salt for 6 months. When we’re ready to use it, we put it in water then cook.” Infused with the rice, it’s very tasty!

WORLD OF WINE

Let Inácio lead the way with the wine! You will not go wrong!

Inácio knows his vinhos too and presents the vintages he likes at the time or perhaps those that have been recommended by regulars, perfectly paired with the dishes of the day.

His favourites come from Douro and Dao! Alentejo is not his favourite! “People who don’t understand Portuguese wine,” he told me, “prefer Alentajo because it’s easier to drink. It is nicer on the palate. The Douro Valley wines have so many different characteristics and take more time to appreciate.”

The message is to let Inácio lead the way and you’ll get a lesson in Portuguese wine for free. Well, not quite! Bottles are routinely €40 plus but you’re guaranteed to get ‘the good stuff’.

HOUSE PARTY

There was another group enjoying a long lunch, ‘sustainable energy guys’ I believe. Some of them knew Elsa and Emanuel so a sort of house party commenced!

Our apres-dinner tables merged as did the free exchange of wine. Amália Rodrigues, the famed Portuguese Fado singer was playing in the background but we soon drowned her out.

I grabbed Inácio in the melee and asked a couple more concluding questions. “What time do you start each day?” I asked “I have no schedule. When there are a lot of bookings, I’ll make a start around 8am. The suppliers bring the fish, the meat, everything really.”

When is your day off? “I have no set days,” he told me. “Only when there are no reservations, that’s a free day.“ What do you do on your free days then? “I usually go to lunch, eat and drink. I like to see what the others are doing.”

I hope they do the same to him! They’d learn a thing or two1