Quintinha d'Aldeia

Anyone who tries the sausages produced in this small factory and smokehouse complex in Alto da Chainça, in Pernes, 15 kilometers north of Santarém, will not suspect that its officials, Paulo, and Susana Santos, started working in this branch only a little over three years. “My husband, Paulo, worked with glass, we had nothing to do with this area,” says the owner.. They were fast learners: The Moorish chorizo produced there, was recently awarded the Gold Medal in the Portuguese Traditional Sausages Nacional Contest, in the respective category. The remaining portfolio also includes varieties such as fighting bull chorizo – or we wouldn’t be in Ribatejo – meat chorizo, blood chorizo, and Portuguese traditional sausages (farinheiras, painhos, paiolas e morcelas) among others. Everything is done in the family, in an artisan way: Susana's father, who has been a butcher for decades, is the one who deals with most of the selected meat pieces. After being duly seasoned with mixtures of spices, they are filled, tied and placed in a smokehouse with different partitions, fed by hollow wood. In addition to what they produce there to export and sell, those in charge are also available to put their wisdom to the service of chefs, as they did with Rodrigo Castelo (Taberna Ó Balcão), for whom they produced smoked sausages and braised bull tongues.