Portugal is a country full of mouth-watering traditional and regional sweets and the typical sweets of the Algarve are a good example of this. Hardly will you find any other country with such a variety of typical sweets. There are several reasons that explain this diversity, one of the most important was the existence of several convents scattered throughout the territory where the nuns gave wings to their imagination and created convent sweets and pastry that, later, came to be produced and consumed by the entire population. The Algarve sweets also reveal a lot about the Arab passage through Portugal. The delicious almond marsipan cakes, which are garishly coloured and come in various shapes, are very similar to a type of sweets found in Tunisia and North Africa.

The fact is that the people of each region knew how to take advantage of the best regional products available and create delicious and irresistible typical sweets and desserts. In the Algarve, besides the traditional eggs and the inevitable sugar (common ingredients all over the country), almond, carob and fig are the trio of ingredients most used in Algarve sweets, but orange and arbutus-berry are also common in sweet recipes. After all, these are some of the most famous Algarvian products, due to the abundance of its species in this region, the great quality of these fruits and their versatility, whose characteristics allow the creation of the most varied and delicious recipes.
From Portimão to Olhão, from Tavira to Monchique, many were the regional sweets that were created throughout the Algarve. In this Sweet Gift Basket you will find some examples of Algarve sweets chosen by us, a delicious sample that will make you want to know and taste even more this region.

In the Algarve sweets reigns the almond cakes, the fig sweets in the most varied versions, filled, dry, in star or in fig cheese, as well as the honey and chila cakes, the Dom Rodrigo and the filhós. In short! A real fantasy kingdom with surprises for all the senses. Here there is no hurry or rush, there is time, memory, knowledge and flavours accumulated over centuries of existence.

For this and much more, the Algarve is a historically rich region where many traditional recipes have been kept, reflecting a secular gastronomic and food history. We have inherited not only recipes but above all ways of cooking with love and authenticity, which are also part of a very important cultural heritage preserved by those who live here. And now, by you too.