Whether they are boiled, baked or grilled, savoury or sweet, served as a traditional or gourmet meal – in Aljezur this month once again everything revolves around the sweet potato. The “Festival da Batata-doce de Aljezur” takes place from November 28 to 30 at the Espaço Multiusos, from 12 noon to 10pm each day.
The tuber, with its reddish brown, almost purple skin and yellow flesh, lies in third place in the world production of root and tuber crops that are suitable for human consumption, behind the traditional potato (with which it is only distantly related) and manioc.
For the inhabitants of Aljezur, the vegetable also ranks very highly. The annual festival is held to pay tribute to the sweet potato as a part of its cultural and gastronomic connection with the community and to show off to visitors the quality of the “Aljezur batata-doce”.
Fans of the tasty tubers, and those who are curious about them, are all invited by the producers and the city council to sample the delicious appetizers, entrees and desserts based on the sweet potato.
Last year some 40,000 people attended the festival where an astonishing 35 tonnes of sweet potatoes were cooked up!
This year, the quality of the “batata-doce de Aljezur” is really being highlighted because not all sweet potatoes are the same; thanks to the sand layers in the soil and an underlying layer of clay coupled with the local climatic conditions, the tubers from Aljezur are so special that they have been officially recognised as a product with a protected designation of origin.
Visitors to the festival will certainly find a dish to their liking in at least one of the restaurants taking part.
As part of the festival, there will also be competitions, cooking demonstrations, concerts and mountain bike tours.
