You wouldn’t usually expect to see a cookery book in an art gallery but Joe Devine has created a masterpiece, filled with imaginative recipes and beautifully presented photographs.
Joe has cooked his way around professional kitchens in the Netherlands, UK and, most recently, in Portugal. His new book, ‘A year’s cooking in the Algarve’, on sale at Galeria Côrte-Real in Paderne, is based upon personal experience applying his culinary knowledge to fresh local produce.
Commencing with a witty and frank introduction, we learn of time spent in Tavira cooking at Aquasul. It is a highly regarded restaurant where expectations are more sophisticated than lighting a barbecue and grilling a piece of fish or meat.
That’s not to say Joe’s recipes are over complicated but the combination of foods and flavours make them unique. Sweet potatoes and razor clams, red mullet with minted hollandaise sauce, meatballs with leaf parsley and coriander, piri-piri quails with orange and hazelnuts…
Fish recipes predominate. “What excites me most are fish and shellfish,” he explains. “I have seldom seen fresher than here in Portugal.”
Using seasonal vegetables and fruits, there are many salads and desserts that are mouth-wateringly photographed on the pages.
The book is littered with images of the Algarve so it is like Joe’s travelogue of places, people and food.
The gallery, signposted from Boliqueime, Ferreiras and Paderne, has books, ceramics, textiles, jewelry, carvings and sculptures crafted by local people, as well as a selection of paintings created by more than 30 international artists. Côrte-Real also has a pop-up gallery in the centre of Carvoeiro above the estate agent, Fine & Country.
CAROLYN KAIN
www.corterealarte.com
