Around 360 people turned up for the Algarve Chefs Week Charity Christmas Dinner, which took place on Friday, December 14 at the Centro de Congressos do Algarve in Vilamoura and raised a grand total of €10,000 for charity.
The money will be divided between CATRAIA, which provides a shelter for neglected children in Portimão, and APPC, the Portuguese Association of Cerebral Palsy. It will be used to upgrade the green spaces at their headquarters and create new gardens in a bid to “improve the wellbeing of the children from both institutions.”
The menu featured an “interesting combination of typical Christmas ingredients with Algarve ingredients” and was created by 14 chefs from some of the Algarve’s finest hotels: Adérito Almeida, André Simões, Bruno Augusto, Bruno Viegas, David Domingues, Diogo Pereira, José Botelho, José Leitão, Luís Batalha, Luís Rosário, Miguel Lourenço, Vítor Monteiro, Vítor Moreira and Wilson Costa.
Dinner started with smoked free-range chicken breast served on a bed of “Algarvian and oriental flavours” followed by the main fish dish – codfish served with a coriander ‘xerém’ (traditional corn porridge) and vegetables.
The menu also included a pork pie accompanied by pumpkin, beats, sweet potatoes, peanuts and salsa and a decadent milk chocolate and spices mousse with raspberries for dessert.
The event was organised and backed by the volunteer work of several hotels and companies, including Conrad Algarve, Hilton Vilamoura, NAU Salgados Dunas Suites, Tivoli Marina Vilamoura, Anatara Vilamoura Resort, Vidamar Resort Hotel Algarve, Monte Santo Resort, Makro, Panidor, Mundo do Vinho, JustFood, Capri, RISE, Nprint, Taylor, KOBU, and ProChef.
