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After spending a lot of money on your holiday, the last thing you want is a stressful time whilst you're there. The reality is holidays can have plenty of stressful moments.
One of them can be around food.
I thought I'd do a blog with some information on food, in the hope that it might save you some stress, particularly if you have kids. If you're more than happy to eat out lots, eat the local cuisine and aren't fussy you might not find this blog as valuable.
After our first proper holiday abroad as a family I experienced disappointment with how many stresses there had been. Whilst posting my wonderful holiday pictures on Facebook I also shared some of the stresses and how disappointed I had felt. One wise person commented: 'It all sounds fairly normal. Sounds like you just need some more practice'. It was very true and after doing it a few more times since I have learned some valuable lessons along the way.
So, here are some things I've found:
Self-catering gives you options
The villa is self-catering which gives the flexibility. To have some nice meals out if you want to - at some lovely restaurants nearby. But also the ease of having your own kitchen to cook in and the chance to get in the food you want and like, in the quantities you want, ready to eat when you want and to keep the costs down.
Before you come
Tip: Before you come on holiday write yourself a rough list of what you might need to buy once you get there, so you just need to go and get it, without doing much thinking, so you're free to get on and enjoy your holiday.
Tip: have a few meal ideas up your sleeve. You may even want to take one or two items towards it with you.
I thought I'd be able to just buy what we needed when we were there. That was true for plenty of items. But of course, this was Portugal, not England, and they don't always sell the same things. This would have been fine for us as adults, but I didn't find it so easy for the kids.
If we have the weight allowance, just to save myself a bit of stress when there, I pack a few bits in my luggage that I know they might not have there or just so I can guarantee the kids will have something they like.
Saying that, it's always a good opportunity for them to try new things and have something a bit different to what they have at home, as long as that remains a nice thing and not a cause of stress.
In your hand luggage and cabin bag (both of which you take on to the plane with you), the maximum liquid you can take is 100ml per item, so don't get caught out. In luggage that gets checked in and goes under the plane there isn't a limit, so make sure you put any liquids in that one.
Arriving for your holiday
We arrived at the villa late at night when none of the shops open, and there wasn't any milk for a nice cup of tea or anything to eat until we could get to the shops in the morning.
We've since made sure this isn't our visitors experience. If you are arriving at the villa late and would like a few essentials (bread, milk, and teabags for example) all ready for you at the villa when you arrive please let us know in advance. We will then ask the wonderful Candida, the lady who gets the villa all ready for you, to make sure there's some there for you to keep you going until you can get to the shop. She will then leave the receipt for you so you can reimburse her.
The cupboards are generally kept pretty bare so that we don’t accumulate any perishable or out-of-date food. Anything that you do find you’re welcome to use. There should be oil, salt and pepper at least. You will need to buy everything else that you need during your stay.
There is a Lidl on the N125 on way to the villa from the airport, which depending on your time of arrival, is worth a visit. It still doesn't have all the same things in it, but there is an element of familiarity.
There is a local decent sized supermarket about 10 minutes drive away in Monchique. We provide instructions of how to get there in the information pack and there's always good old Google Maps.
The local supermarket's opening and closing times are:
Winter time: 9am - 8.30pm
Summer time: 9am - 9pm
There is free parking there (in fact everywhere in Mochique is free to park). There's a petrol station there too.
If you want a massive supermarket then Portimao is the place to go. This is the nearest town on the coast. You can combine it with a nice visit to the beach or explore of the area.
There are cafes, restaurants and coffee shops in Monchique too if you want.
What's in the villa
Maybe I'm an overthinker, but I know for some people this saves anxiety, to know beforehand what there is and isn't. There should be everything you need for cooking (minus the food). For those of you who appreciate knowing what is available, here are some pictures to give you a bit of an idea:
Please also feel free to ask if you have any questions, we are always happy to answer them.
At the local supermarket
A few random bits of information:
- They don't seem to sell the 6 packs of crisps like we do in the UK. It's mainly the family sized sharing bags. It's not a big problem, but I'm just letting you know. It took me by surprise the first time, and isn't so convenient for picnics (in my humble opinion) or if you all like different flavours.
- I'd hoped they might have something like a korma sauce, which they did, but it was loads more expensive than the same thing at home. The same with other items.
- They don't seem to have lots of things like breaded chicken, kievs, or things I'd normally put with potatoes and veg at home. Maybe I just haven't discovered them yet, I don't know.
- They do sell things like chicken breast at a reasonable price, which can be used in lots of different ways. Also mince.
- Fish is a big thing there and there is lots available in the supermarket
- If you don't like UHT milk, here's a picture of the milk we get, just so you know what to look out for:
- We really enjoyed the fresh pastries every morning. The croissants are very reasonably priced (prices may vary, this picture was taken from the local supermarket in May 2022). Lovely baguettes too.
- There's a good selection of cheeses.
- There's plenty of fruit and veg there. Save yourself a few pennies and eat fruit from the garden. I ate so many oranges and they taste so much better when they're free!
- You can't seem to buy small bags of potatoes.
- The locally sourced produce is all organic, as they do not grow anything that is not organic, though the prices are normal.
- Items from a company called 'Porsi' seems to be the reasonably priced brand.
Some recommendations:
- These fruit juices are delicious.
- These little cakes are typically Portuguese and taste yummy. You'll see them on postcards too.
- The ice cream makes for a scrumptious pudding.
- The kids always look forward to getting the Porsi sweets (and taking some home too!)
Restaurants
When you book a holiday with us you'll be given a link to our digital guidebook and sent our information pack. In there are some recommendations of local restaurants that we and previous guests have enjoyed.
Portugal is famous for it's fish and in particular sardines. Keep an eye out for local specialities.
Wild boar and black pork cuisine is another speciality of the region. It is a much richer pork meat as the pigs are fed on acorns and the local chorizo sausage is also produced from this meat.
If you go out for a meal in Portugal, you will often be offered bread and olives or fish paste at the beginning. The way they offer it leaves you not really knowing if you will be charged for it on the bill or if it is just part of the service, and asking that can be awkward, so I'll answer it for you: you will likely be charged, but it is very yummy.
After the meal you may be offered the local firewater, medronho, which is produced from locally grown arbutus berries. There's a sweeter version with added honey called Melosa.
So there you go, some quite random bits on info! Hopefully some of it might be helpful.
I'm all for reducing stress on holiday, and if you are too then here is a link to anther blog I've written about taking the stress out of the holiday in different ways: