The pigs revolution (Portugal)
The Barroso region, located in the mountainous north of Portugal and near Galicia, is mainly located in the Municipality of Montalegre and is part of the territory delimited by the Peneda-Gerês National Park.
This region has a complex and unique ecosystem, marked by the historical influence of different peoples, namely, Celts, where the use of sustainable agricultural technologies reflects an extension of this occupation.
This agricultural system has unique characteristics and recently has been classified as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System by the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture. Agriculture is further developed in harmony with the environment, having agroecological interactions with grazing and silviculture.
Endemic animal genetic resources play a central role in these virtuous connections, as it’s the case of the native breed Barrosã and Maronesa, in the case of cattle, cabrito and cordeiro do Barroso, in the case of goats breed.
The maintenance of balance between the various components of this system is also favored by the traditional knowledge of family farmers. They have developed social systems based on strong community relations, expressed in typical activities of the region such as the “people’s ox”, rotational grazing sheep and goats between the shepherds and the “people’s oven”, which were essential to survive in a region where subsistence has always been difficult.
Even at the beginning of the 20th century, the poorest families went through long periods of hunger, an expression of social inequalities that changed with the democratization of the country.
Currently, the local food system is based on local products, with bread, potatoes, cabbage, vegetables and pulses standing out.
Food is largely made up with what is still produced locally, excepting wine and olive oil. However, the traditional and popular culinary of Barroso is nowadays heavily influenced by the smokestation and the agroecological cure of several sausages based on pork, practices that integrate the identity and food heritage of Portugal.
From agricultural communitarianism to the “pig revolution”, there is a giant step in the development path of what emerges as the most preserved food landscape in Portugal.
Experience
This experience begins with accommodation in a charming small hotel in Murtosa folowed by a thematic dinner. Optionally, the experience can start from Porto.
After breakfast, the tour begins towards the Barroso region, in the north of Portugal. Barroso is limited to the east by the Tâmega River, to the west by the Alto Minho mountains, to the south by Terras de Basto, and to the north by Galicia (Spain).
On the way you will visit the village of Montalegre where a thematic lunch will be held and the villages of “Couto Misto”, an independent microstate between Portugal and Spain until 1864. It will be possible to observe traditional agricultural fields with annual productions of rye, potatoes, turnips and cabbages and forests of oak and pine trees. Accommodation will take place in Tourém in a charming hotel where a dinner will be served with the participation of guardians of this foodscape and its traditional products such as bread, potatoes, cabbage, legumes and meat from the barrosã breed. Here you will also get to know the flora and fauna of this unique foodscape and be aware of communitarian systems for pastoral activities and the baking of rye bread in people’s ovens.
After breakfast, you will follow a route where it is possible to find traditional irrigation systems and will visit the village of Pitões das Junias to discover a differentiated food heritage patrimony based on dishes made with smoked pork meat produced locally in an artisanal and agroecological way by an extensive network of household traditional factories led, mostly by women, the main guardians of a food revolution that started due to the improved living conditions in an historically marginalized territory. The return to Murtosa or Porto will be at the end of the day.