The study assessed 140 worldwide economies and took into consideration the competitiveness of these countries in regards to travel and tourism under the chosen theme of ‘Reducing barrier to economic growth and job creation’.

The report is meant to explore the potential and influence that the travel and tourism industries in general have in regards to a country’s economy and also takes into consideration the creation of jobs, which is essential for the proper development of any country.

So on this list of 140 countries, Portugal placed seventh, behind a couple of unexpected places such as Senegal – sixth – and Macedonia – fourth. The top three friendliest places are Iceland, New Zealand and Morocco.

The President of the Algarve Tourism Board, Desiderio Silva, stated that this favorable positioning of the entire country is thanks to the tourism industry’s approach to its visitors’ needs and requests. The Portuguese people being hospitable in general, but when helped by high quality products in all facets of tourism, coupled with the natural beauty, warm climate and unique gastronomy and culture of the country, it can only boost the way in which they’re perceived by foreigners.

We would like to add that all of the characteristics that we mentioned earlier are available in spades in the Algarve, which can be seen as a microcosm of everything that is great tourism-wise, about the country.

The study has also taken a series of other factors into account, such as the overall tourism infrastructure, economic, legal, environmental and cultural factors, as well as the tourism labor market.

Overall, the various indicators place Portugal in 20^th place when the other placements are taken into account.

But even though the piri-piri is almost synonymous with the regions’ chicken, shrimp and a plethora of other dishes, it’s interesting to note that it wasn’t indigenous to the region. The piri-piri chilli, as well as other sweet chillies were brought by Portuguese seafarers from the New World. It’s not well known where exactly the piri-piri came from but what matters is that it has been part of the region’s gastronomy for many hundreds of years by now.

Chicken Piri-piri

This is probably the most well-known and most easily available dish in the region, it can be found pretty much on any menu anywhere in the Algarve.

What chicken Piri-piri basically is a smallish chicken, cut in half, slashed to the bone and marinated in a mixture of sea salt and spices for several hours, after which you grill it over hot coals. The resulting product is traditionally cut into small pieces and served with potatoes and a side salad. As you might think there are variations of this basic recipe all throughout the region, some places will serve the entire grilled half chicken and French fries tend to be the ubiquitous side dish to the spicy bird.

Considering the fact that the Portuguese are very keen on pork as well, it’s interesting to see that Piri-piri pork isn’t as easy to find in the Algarve, however you will find Piri-piri shrimp, it most likely has to do with the more easily available raw materials.

You can find piri-piri in a wide array of product type, and lovers of spicy foods will love to experiment with as many of them as possible.

For a great overview of the different varieties of piri-piri infused recipes, keep our Algarve car rental services in mind, it will make getting from one place to another that much easier.

This region of the Algarve is quite limited, it acts as sort of a natural borderline between the Algarve and the Alentejo region to the north, and as we’ve seen with the other parts of the Algarve, this part of Portugal has also adapted its gastronomy to the most easily accessible ingredients, but it did this without losing the marvelous flavors of the south.

This region is very well-known for its use of pork and as such there are some very widely appreciated pork dishes in the region, the home-made sausages are also well regarded, and even something as simple as the gruel made from corn-meal is a bit special because it is made using the water in which the morcelas – the earlier mentioned blood sausages – were prepared in, and of course with all of this pork just lying around their dark-coloured smoked ham is something to die for.

There’s a hunting season in this region, and during said season you can also find a very delicious hare soup on the menu alongside stewed partridge.

All of the above and more can be found while adventuring through this, relatively narrow, part of the Algarve, but what it maintains in common with the other regions is the particular flavor, a special type of aroma typical to Algarve cuisine thanks to the combinations of the very many different condiments, herbs and spices that naturally grow in the region on the whole.

When you add to these the very close proximity of the very healthy olive oil which is produced immediately to the north in the Alentejo region, then you get a much better idea of the tastes that you should expect.

Explore as much of the Algarve culinary map as you wish with the help of our Algarve car hire services.