Gastronomic Event counts on thousand restaurants of 78 municipalities of the North

A thousand restaurants and more than 200 recipes to sample are some of the numbers from the 11th edition of the Gastronomic Weekends, which will run from November to June in 78 municipalities in the North, was announced today.

Organized by ‘Turismo do Porto e Norte de Portugal’ (TPNP), in partnership with the participating municipalities, the Gastronomic Weekends also include 500 tourist developments, 300 farms, wineries and wine tourism areas, 52 qualified products and five wine denominations.

“This is the largest public-private project in the area of gastronomy and wine in Portugal,” emphasized Agostinho Peixoto of TPNP at the press conference to present the Gastronomic Week Ends, which took place in Esposende, in the district of Braga.

The theme of this year’s edition is the Traditional and Conventual Sweets of the North of Portugal, which will be featured in 55 municipalities.

The idea behind this initiative is for each municipality to have a weekend to put on its table its most emblematic dish, accompanied by a dessert and the wines from each region.

The initiative starts on November 2 in Guimarães with rojões, sarrabulho potatoes and french toast, and in Lamego, with the kid roasted with rice and potatoes in a wood oven and cream milk.

The last gastronomic weekend is scheduled for May 31, June 1 and June 2 in Sabrosa, which will serve stewed fava beans with sausage and bolt-on sauce.

Tourism ventures will offer discounts of at least 10% on Friday and Saturday nights, and restaurants are encouraged to offer a “welcome glass of wine” to customers who opt for the Gastronomic Weekends dish.

“It’s a kind of carrot for the rabbit to follow,” said Agostinho Peixoto.

With Gastronomic Weekends, TPNP intends to combat the seasonality of tourism and to value the dishes of each county.

In the brochure alluding to the event, which serves as a gastronomic and tourist itinerary, there are also about 200 recipes referring to the dishes presented by the participating municipalities.