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Discover Portuguese World Cuisine- Riverside Cooking Holiday

Highlights

  • Stunning accommodation with meals and airport transfers included
  • Daily cooking classes. Learn new recipes, techniques and flavours!
  • Learn to cook seafood, vegetarian and iconic Portuguese dishes
  • Dive into the rich blend of Indian-Portuguese and Mozambican flavours, and exotic recipes of Brazil and Macau,
From £795 pp*
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4 nights

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What you'll do

Overview

Discover new flavours and recipes from around the world on this unique 4 night cooking holiday set in a stunning riverside villa with outdoor pool, amazing views and cosy elegant rooms.

2024 Dates:
11 – 15 October

2025 Dates:
4 - 8 April
23 - 27 May

Join us at this luxury riverside retreat in the stunning Algarve,  Winner of the LuxLife Hospitality Award: Best Culinary Boutique Retreats 2024 -Portugal

Embark on an extraordinary culinary odyssey, ‘Portugal’s Spice Route and Beyond,’ where you’ll travel through time and continents, immersing yourself in a fusion of history, culture, and gastronomy that shaped Portugal’s remarkable legacy.

Inspired by the  renowned Spice Route, where precious Asian spices ignited a global trade revolution. The Portuguese Discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries expanded Portugal’s influence across Africa, the Americas and Asia, and introduced exotic spices to Europe.

Discover and learn to cook delicious seafood and vegetarian recipes, along side savouring fine Portuguese wines.

*From price per person based on two people sharing a double room with shared bathroom

You will enjoy iconic Portuguese dishes like Bacalhau, Cataplana, and Cod Fish Cakes, but also delve into the melding of Indian, African, South American  and Portuguese flavours, with indulgent curries and seafood delicacies, giving you the opportunity to taste new flavours and learn recipes to incorporate into your cooking at home. 

Arrival

Settle into the river house and your room before enjoying a group welcome dinner.

Accommodation

Stay in an exceptional villa, lovingly known as ‘the river house’. Surrounded by countryside on a river-bend with an infinity pool to relax in and soak up the atmosphere. The villa boasts spectacular sunsets, sunrises and walking trails all around, and the town of Silves is just a 15 minute drive away.

The villa features 5 spacious and fully air-conditioned double bedrooms; 2 with ensuite bathrooms and a large communal bathroom. The comfortable rooms are stylishly decorated, maintaining many traditional features such as wooden beams. The upstairs rooms are flooded with natural light thanks to the skylights, and the downstairs rooms have double doors leading out onto the garden.

All rooms can have single beds upon request and feature WiFi, duvets, linens, towels, hairdryers (in bathrooms), walk-in showers with handlebars, anti-allergy fibre pillows, mosquito net doors, heating, and A/C. Some also have a TV.

The villa also boasts light and airy social spaces; a high-ceiling lounge and kitchen with a center island and a cherry wood dining table. The lovely outdoor terrace is perfect for alfresco dining by the water.

 

Wine Farm Visit and Culinary Adventure

Begin your day with a typical Portuguese breakfast. Our journey starts as we head to a local vineyard, where you will take a tour and have the opportunity to try some award winning wines accompanied by local tapas.  In the late afternoon, immerse yourself in our engaging cooking lessons and demonstrations, where we’ll explore the art of crafting Portuguese spice route inspired recipes. The kitchen becomes a canvas as we prepare these delectable dishes. As the sun sets, we gather to enjoy the fruits of our labour—a sumptuous dinner thoughtfully paired with exquisite Portuguese wines, a fitting culmination to a day filled with culinary exploration and delightful flavours

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner

Delicious Portuguese Recipes

Get ready for a day that kick-starts with a burst of vitality! We’ll greet the morning with a refreshing breakfast, complete with freshly squeezed oranges—nature’s energy in a glass.

Lunchtime join us for a fun Pastéis de Bacalhau com Queijo – Codfish Cakes with Cheese. In the afternoon, we’ll embark on a leisurely countryside walk, where tranquillity meets inspiration, and your senses are set free, or simply unwind at our venue—a lazy afternoon, tailor-made for you.

Late afternoon brings a culinary spectacle. We’ll learn to make the authentic Algarve Cataplana dish alongside some vegetarian accompaniments. And when the sun dips below the horizon, we’ll come together for a memorable dinner paired with fine wines. It’s a grand finale you won’t want to miss!

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner

African and South American Inspired cuisine

Prepare for a day that will electrify your senses and ignite your passion for Portuguese international cuisine! Get ready for a brunch that’s a true symphony of flavours from Brasil and Mozambique. But that’s just the beginning! In the afternoon, we’ll dive into the creation of some of the eastern delights such as Goan curries and Macoun delights

Our evening dinner is a flavourful reunion with the dishes we’ve passionately crafted during our cooking class. This experience is a heartfelt celebration of Portuguese International flavours—an adventure you’ll cherish long after the sun dips below the horizon. Get ready for a day that will tantalize, inspire, and warm your heart!

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner

Departure Day

After our final wholesome breakfast, we will pack up and say our goodbyes before returning home with a repertoire of new recipes and new cooking skills to enjoy with friends and family at home. 

Meals: Breakfast

What's included

Included

  • Airport transfers to and from Faro Airport (at a specified time)
  • Welcome drinks
  • 4 nights accommodation in a private room with en-suite bathroom. Discounts are available for rooms with a shared bathroom
  • Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily and wine with meals-not included: alcoholic and cool drinks (honesty bar provided)
  • Daily cooking tuition and all ingredients
  • Towels - Bath and swimming pool towels

Accommodation

Double room ensuite Double room with shared bathroom Glamping Tent with Shared Bathroom

Double room ensuite

This room has double or twin beds for one or two people and has an ensuite bathroom
All rooms feature WiFi, duvets, linens, towels, hairdryers (in bathrooms), walk-in showers with handlebars, anti-allergy fibre pillows, mosquito net doors, heating, and A/C. Some also have a TV.

Facilities

Air conditioning En suite bathroom Hairdryer

Double room with shared bathroom

All rooms feature WiFi, duvets, linens, towels, hairdryers (in bathrooms), walk-in showers with handlebars, anti-allergy fibre pillows, mosquito net doors, heating, and A/C. Some also have a TV.

Facilities

Air conditioning Shared bathroom Hairdryer

Glamping Tent with Shared Bathroom

The Glamping tent has a comfortable bed, duvet, linens, towels, anti-allergy fibre pillows, mosquito net doors. In the shared bathroom there is a hairdryer and walk-in shower with handlebars

Facilities

Shared bathroom Hotel Swimming Pool Hairdryer
Your local host

Cheryl and Graham

Cheryl and Graham look forward to welcoming you to their wonderful riverside home in the Algarve.

Cheryl and Graham look forward to welcoming you to their wonderful riverside home in the Algarve.

Cheryl and Graham image

Location

Stay in an exceptional villa tucked into the bend of a river in Portugal’s Algarve countryside, just 15 minutes from the town of Silves. Lovingly known as ‘the river house’, it will leave you feeling relaxed, inspired and very much at home. With terraces overlooking surrounding countryside, limitless walking trails and a starry night sky, there isn’t a more idyllic place to perfect your artistic skills.

Getting there

Please note that prices for the holidays do not include flights. We recommend using www.skyscanner.net to check flights.

Nearest airport:
Faro – 35 minutes away by car

Pre-booked transfers:

There is a complimentary transfer service from and to Faro airport offered by your hosts. On arrival day the  airport pick-up will be at 3pm for the group, if you wish to take this transfer please choose flights with this pick up time in mind.

Departure to Faro airport on your last day will be after breakfast at 9:30 am. Please ensure your flight departure time is not before 12:30 if you wish to take this transfer.

If you choose flights which will not work with these times we can arrange alternative airport transfers for an extra charge. 

What our travellers are saying...

What a very special place! In a beautiful riverside setting this was the perfect venue for a cooking course. Very comfortable rooms (mine had a view of the infinity pool), well equipped kitchen and charming company. Graham & Cheryl are the perfect hosts with nothing being too much trouble from arrival to departure. We worked our way through many Portuguese and Portuguese influenced dishes. There was a visit to a small local market and museum and

Jonathan R

FAQs

Who is it suitable for?

- Suitable for all cooking abilities from beginners to advanced
- Minimum age 18 with no upper age limit

I'm travelling solo - can I join?

- Solo travellers are more than encouraged to join as you will meet others with similar interests in the group
- You can book your own private room

What time is check-in?

Check in is after 2pm and check out is after breakfast on day 7

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