ROYAL CONFECTIONS

By the 16th century, with the Moors vanquished and Portugal firmly established as a country, Sintra became the preferred hideaway for the Portuguese royal family. A stone’s throw from the political and economic center of Lisbon, it provided the aristocracy with a salubrious escape from the city air. With its combination of strawberry-tinged facades and rich lemon-yellow paintwork, the Pena Palace provides a testimony to these extravagant times.

Royal palace banquets were all the rage in those days. Pastry chefs and nuns were enlisted to create myriad confections, some of which were fashioned into extravagant edible centerpieces. Other Portuguese sweets were sold at local bakeries, such as Casa Piriquita, founded in 1862 (King Carlos I was a daily visitor during his stay in Sintra during the summer months). More than 250 years later, the shop continues to sell two of the region’s most treasured treats: travesseiros, puff pastries filled with almond-and-egg-yolk cream; and traditional tartlets known as queijadas, pastry shells cradling a mix of fresh cheese, sugar, flour and cinnamon. (Queijadas can also be found at Pastelaria Gregório and Sapa, two other local bakeries that make them from scratch.)

ROOTED IN TRADITION

Sintra remains a crown jewel among the Portuguese regions, and a host of traditional and family-run restaurants and markets are doing their part to keep the area’s culinary history alive and showcase the choice ingredients the region has to offer.

At the nearly four-decade-old Mar do Inferno, fresh shellfish is accompanied by a magnificent view of the Atlantic, where the restaurant’s seafood comes from. (Standouts include the bruxas, or “slipper lobster,” and the shrimp curry.) Tender Iberian pork, as well as other traditional Portuguese dishes like codfish, are on the menu at Adega das Azenhas, a family-run restaurant opened almost 30 years ago. The unassuming entrance ushers visitors into a world of dishes like espetadas de lombinho (pork skewers), bacalhau à Azenha (fried codfish loin) and filetes de pescada com arroz de tomate (haddock fillets with tomato rice). 

The best ingredients Sintra has to offer can also be found at the Cascais market, Mercado da Vila, or at the regional farmer’s market, Feira de Almoçageme. The former, opened in 1952, is where you can find fishmongers, butchers, and, on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, the “mercado saloio,” a produce market featuring fruit, vegetables, flowers and cheese. At the latter, producers from surrounding areas gather at the village of Almoçageme, about a 30-minute drive north, to sell locally sourced products such as honey, cakes, flowers, bread and even goose barnacles.