Hugo Bernardo

Chef Hugo Bernardo found in Estremoz and The Folly Restaurant the perfect stage for his cuisine centered on local and seasonal products. The Folly Restaurant, a project which also houses an urban winery that produces premium wines, is known for reproducing some dishes from the Alentejo gastronomy in a more contemporary version.

Chef Dishes

Espargos Selvagens servidos sobre brioche caseiro com papada de porco, maionese de espargos, gema de ovo frita, pipocas de chouriço e óleo de chouriço

Wild asparagus served over homemade brioche with pork jowl, asparagus mayonnaise, fried egg yolk, chorizo popcorn and chorizo oil

If this dish spoke, it would have a heavy Alentejo accent. From the hand and creative mind of chef Hugo Bernardo from The Folly Restaurant, here are these magnificent wild asparagus served over homemade brioche with pork jowl, asparagus mayonnaise, fried egg yolk, chorizo popcorn and chorizo oil.

Wild Green Asparagus

They can be found all over the country, but it is in Trás-os-Montes and Alentejo that the most delicious ones can be found.

Sentinels of spring, wild asparagus begin to emerge after the rains and the mild days that herald the season of renewal. “The most delicate of vegetables,“ as Grimod de la Reynière called it, enjoys the company of vines and olive trees, so it is near them that the wild asparagus are usually found. Mostly dark green in colour, but with some violet specimens, it is a tender, fleshy, crunchy and acidic vegetable, that tastes better the more rare it is cooked. From the same family as onions and leeks, it exists in more than 300 species, of which only 20 are edible. They can be found all over the country, but it is in Trás-os-Montes and Alentejo that the most delicious ones can be found.
Photo © Revista de Vinhos

Alentejo and Ribatejo

Miguel Torga once wrote that “more than enjoying the emotion of an enjoyable trip, whoever visits the Alentejo has to meditate”. Let’s meditate then, as we’re back to the ever charming Alentejo. Land of sea and mountains, its virtue lies in the middle, in the plains, where our product of the week comes from.