Portuguese love their Sweets and Cakes:
Marzipan carrot-shaped sweet
The Portuguese we are told are sweet-toothed and have a great love of cakes. This we find out for ourselves to be absolutely true as everywhere we go, there are pastelarias and cafes with counters that are stocked full with all kinds of sweet delights.
Our Portuguese tour director, a man who confesses to a love of food and cooking, gives great tips on what to try at each morning and afternoon stop. For those of us with a sweet-tooth and not much in the way of will-power, Portugal is a dieter’s challenge!
Algarve Sweets
In Faro, we are told that Gardy is the best coffee shop and here we can try special Algarve sweets – little marzipan sweets that are made into different shapes, carrots, piglets, peaches, etc. In the centre of the sweet are very fine yellow threads and our task is to taste the sweets and ascertain what the threads are made of.
Tony tastes and examines the threads and he thinks they are shredded cheese. I on the other hand think they may be shredded pineapple that’s been cooked in sugar. Well we were all wrong!
Call into Gardy when in Faro
The delicate yellow threads in the marzipan sweets are more decorative than a taste sensation, which goes to show the amount of work that the Portuguese put into their deserts. We now know what they’re made of and how they’re made – but I won’t spoil the fun for you.
Marzipan piglet-shaped sweets
If you’re in Faro, call into Gardy and have a taste of some of these decorative marzipan sweets. If you think you know what the yellow threads are, leave me a comment and I’ll let you know if you’re correct. Also try some of the sweets that are wrapped in colourful foil.
The Gardy is at 33 Rua de Santo Antonio, one of the the main pedestrianised streets in Faro. This famous cafe serves sandwiches and light snacks as well and is a good place to have a lunch break on your Faro visit.
Your Turn: Do you have any advice you would like to share? What tips would you like to add? Please comment below.
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Gardy’s is disgusting. ( unless of course they are paying you to write a review) Over 9 Euros for a small pizza siciliana – slices of hotdog on a 6 inch pizza.
Don’t know anything about the pizzas, Zek, our post was about the sweets that they are famous for, and which we and many others like! Certainly if a “pizza siciliana” has slices of sausage or any meat on it, it’s not a pizza siciliana – at least as far as Sicilians or anywhere else we’ve been in Italy is concerned!
And by the way, nobody pays us to write our posts, we pay our own way and give you our honest opinions of our experiences.
Hello, I live in Canada. I would like to place an order for marzipan (macapao or doces finos). Can you advise how I can place an order. I told they are available at Gardy 33 Rua de Santo Antonio. Thanks. Rex
Sorry Rex. We’re a travel planning website. We don’t have any info on the cost of marzipan or how you can order it.
Regards,
Helen