Book by the Alentejo Gastronomic Confraternity whets the appetite for “Comeres Raianos”

Part of the typical gastronomic recipes of the 13 municipalities in Alentejo and also of neighbor municipality of Olivença (Spain) are now brought together in a bilingual book launched by the Confraria Gastronómica do Alentejo.

The work, entitled “Comeres Raianos”, available in Portuguese and Spanish, brings together around 50 recipes and tells stories and stories of the gastronomic heritage of the Alentejo region and that municipality in the province of Badajoz, in Spanish Extremadura.

In total, on the Portuguese side, seven municipalities are represented in the district of Portalegre (Nisa, Castelo de Vide, Marvão, Portalegre, Arronches, Campo Maior and Elvas), two in Évora (Alandroal and Mourão) and four in Beja (Barrancos , Moura, Serpa and Mértola), which border the Spanish regions of Extremadura or Andalusia.

The book “portrays each of these municipalities and had the collaboration of the local authorities”, explained José Casas Novas, provider of the Confraria Gastronómica do Alentejo.

“It tells a little about the history of each of the municipalities, talks about the gastronomic history and, hence, the ‘stories and stories’ factor of some gastronomic and even anthropological curiosities” of the ray, added the same person in charge.

According to José Casas Novas, who compiled a large part of the work, with 180 pages, some notes related to sweets are also presented in the publication.

“Indeed, it was not easy to coordinate and have access to local authorities (data collection). Contact is not always easy, but it was overcome, it was necessary to have some tenacity and willpower”, he argued, specifying that the book “took about a year” to be completed.

The idea came from “two basic pillars”, namely the Alentejo Gastronomic Charter, which has “around 1,100 recipes”, he said.

“There was also an almost personal motivation here, which was the professional relationship I had for almost 40 years with Commander Rui Nabeiro, in which I always heard him talk about the border, the differentiation between the border and the border and that also motivated me, in some way, to undertake this edition of raiano eating”, he added.

The Confraria Gastronomica do Alentejo added to the book you eat de Olivença, due to the “fruitful relationship” of this Spanish municipality with the Alentejo and the fact that the Confraria Gastronomica de Olivença is goddaughter of the Alentejo Gastronomic Confraternity.

The book, which costs 25 euros, can be purchased in several commercial spaces, but mainly through the brotherhood’s direct channels, contacting them by email [email protected].

The 1st edition, with a total of 750 copies, “is practically sold out”, confirmed José Casas Novas.

The brotherhood may also develop efforts to launch a 2nd edition of the work, and is currently considering whether to move forward in this direction.