Listen, where I come from food presents itself in stores. You have no choice in the matter. Sometimes, usually along the roadside, you might find a suspect weed or fast food wrapper or carcass and feel like you’ve beaten the system. And like me, after eating that wrapper, you wonder if there might be something more to the world.
I moved to the Algarve last summer and my property is in the coastal foothills, overlooking the Atlantic. Last November I’m minding my own business and come across a single asparagus spear growing under one of my olive trees. Nothing will put me quicker into foraging mode than found food!
I had no idea there were asparagus here. All you see on the ground are these colossal spiny bushes. It turns out those bushes ARE asparagus! But early autumn rains had summoned all these tender new spears out of the ground. So I go traipsing around the hills, gather up a bunch of asparagus, then make a cream of asparagus soup. These wild asparagus are slightly bitter but the cream mellows them out. If you add enough cream to anything it will taste just…like…cream.
The only problem I have is that I am not the only one hunting asparagus around here. The telltale sign that some dirty poacher has been before you is a little stump where an asparagus used to be. Sure, I’m doing the same thing – poaching – but when these other scoundrels do it seems wrong somehow.
Wild Asparagus - Trust Me
Adult Asparagus
Dirty Poachers!
The larger asparagus can feed over 400 people. The fact that this looks like an agave is coincidental
Fueled by the asparagus win, I act on advice from the ladies in the village that wild spinach will soon be appearing. Sure enough I spot something that looks like spinach growing in a vacant lot right outside of town. A careless taste confirms it is the real deal; a perfect spinach flavor.
Algarvian Death Spinach
I then look up the slope and see a spinach plant vastly more green and edible. So I tear off a piece of this plant and start chewing. I immediately get the sensation of having swallowed a mixture of liquid detergent and fire ants.
I start yelling like crazy but the festival down the street in Santa Barbara is drowning it out. My sister, who has seen all this before (i.e. the time I tried to eat that cactus in Texas), looks on in mild amusement. I need drink at this point. Luckily, there is a bar/pasteleria every 20cm in the Algarve. You can actually have a whisky and a croissant in a hardware store here!
Anyway, after about 12 meters I’m feeling fine and can no longer remember the horror that had happened to me. Even the paramedics couldn’t tell if my coma was from plant or alcohol poisoning.
I’m determined to have a meal that doesn’t cause blindness, so I continue to try various other plants in the area that ‘look’ familiar. I do not have the time nor the sense to properly identify these things, so I’ll name them based on my personal experience:
Foeniculum Terpentinium: Looks like fennel, mostly tastes like fennel but with a bitter turpentine kick. Could possibly work as a flavoring for a dinner with my worst enemy.
Portuguese Man-O-War-With-My-Stomach Celery: Tastes like celery but – surprise – bitter. Initially caused mild queasiness. Will need to find a subject willing to eat a full portion of this to see if it is safe.
Thyme: I was prepared to tell you something hilarious about this plant, but I cannot lie to you now (I haven’t so far). This wild thyme is exquisite. My favorite herb and the entire mountain next to me is covered with it.
Lavender: Wonderful lavender blooming everywhere in the spring. Sprinkle on baked brie or camembert.
Editor’s note: After checking with some expats who have resided in the Algarve somewhat longer, and who are a little more realistic about their foraging, it turns out that the Algarve hills are full of various herbs, celery, asparagus, spinach (the real stuff!), almonds, figs, olives and more. And of course citrus trees abound and you can stock your pantry (or your bar!) with lemons, limes and oranges from your own garden, the neighbours' garden, or roadside trees.
If you would like Database Guy to tell you his hilarious Thyme experience, please let us know!
Brought to you by Meravista – the place where smart people search for Algarve property for sale.
Free Food (foraging) in the Algarve
by Database Guy
Listen, where I come from food presents itself in stores. You have no choice in the matter. Sometimes, usually along the roadside, you might find a suspect weed or fast food wrapper or carcass and feel like you’ve beaten the system. And like me, after eating that wrapper, you wonder if there might be something more to the world.
I moved to the Algarve last summer and my property is in the coastal foothills, overlooking the Atlantic. Last November I’m minding my own business and come across a single asparagus spear growing under one of my olive trees. Nothing will put me quicker into foraging mode than found food!
I had no idea there were asparagus here. All you see on the ground are these colossal spiny bushes. It turns out those bushes ARE asparagus! But early autumn rains had summoned all these tender new spears out of the ground. So I go traipsing around the hills, gather up a bunch of asparagus, then make a cream of asparagus soup. These wild asparagus are slightly bitter but the cream mellows them out. If you add enough cream to anything it will taste just…like…cream.
The only problem I have is that I am not the only one hunting asparagus around here. The telltale sign that some dirty poacher has been before you is a little stump where an asparagus used to be. Sure, I’m doing the same thing – poaching – but when these other scoundrels do it seems wrong somehow.
Fueled by the asparagus win, I act on advice from the ladies in the village that wild spinach will soon be appearing. Sure enough I spot something that looks like spinach growing in a vacant lot right outside of town. A careless taste confirms it is the real deal; a perfect spinach flavor.
I then look up the slope and see a spinach plant vastly more green and edible. So I tear off a piece of this plant and start chewing. I immediately get the sensation of having swallowed a mixture of liquid detergent and fire ants.
I start yelling like crazy but the festival down the street in Santa Barbara is drowning it out. My sister, who has seen all this before (i.e. the time I tried to eat that cactus in Texas), looks on in mild amusement. I need drink at this point. Luckily, there is a bar/pasteleria every 20cm in the Algarve. You can actually have a whisky and a croissant in a hardware store here!
Anyway, after about 12 meters I’m feeling fine and can no longer remember the horror that had happened to me. Even the paramedics couldn’t tell if my coma was from plant or alcohol poisoning.
I’m determined to have a meal that doesn’t cause blindness, so I continue to try various other plants in the area that ‘look’ familiar. I do not have the time nor the sense to properly identify these things, so I’ll name them based on my personal experience:
Thyme: I was prepared to tell you something hilarious about this plant, but I cannot lie to you now (I haven’t so far). This wild thyme is exquisite. My favorite herb and the entire mountain next to me is covered with it.
Lavender: Wonderful lavender blooming everywhere in the spring. Sprinkle on baked brie or camembert.
Editor’s note: After checking with some expats who have resided in the Algarve somewhat longer, and who are a little more realistic about their foraging, it turns out that the Algarve hills are full of various herbs, celery, asparagus, spinach (the real stuff!), almonds, figs, olives and more. And of course citrus trees abound and you can stock your pantry (or your bar!) with lemons, limes and oranges from your own garden, the neighbours' garden, or roadside trees.
If you would like Database Guy to tell you his hilarious Thyme experience, please let us know!
Brought to you by Meravista – the place where smart people search for Algarve property for sale.