Farm to Table Cooking Experience in Évora | Sofia Vieira

Farm to table cooking experience in Évora for anyone who wants to understand Portuguese food from the inside out, starting at the source. Sofia Vieira begins the session at her farm just outside the historic walls of Évora, collecting the vegetables you will cook together before heading to the kitchen, where a glass of wine, local cheese and dried meats are waiting while the real cooking begins. A full meal of starters, fish, meat and dessert follows, made entirely from seasonal local ingredients using traditional Portuguese recipes, including the old convent recipes of Évora for dessert. The session runs for approximately 2.5 hours and is available for lunch from around 11am or dinner from around 6pm.

Sofia brings 27 years of life in the Alentejo, 15 years of running a restaurant in the region and a lifelong curiosity about why food is made the way it is and what the story is behind each dish. The kitchen is at her small farm, a 12-minute walk from Évora’s main square, just outside the Unesco World Heritage city walls. The ingredients come from her garden and the surrounding area: olive oil, fresh herbs, seasonal vegetables, pork, chicken, cod, tuna, local goat and sheep cheese, honey and much more, all selected for the season and the day. Tell Sofia your preferences or dietary restrictions in advance and she will adapt the experience entirely to your group.

What you’ll learn

🌿 How to cook a full traditional Portuguese meal from scratch using seasonal local ingredients

🌿 The logic and cultural context behind traditional Alentejo recipes

🌿 How to prepare starters, a fish dish, a meat dish and a traditional convent dessert

🌿 How to work with fresh herbs, local olive oil and seasonal produce the Portuguese way

🌿 The stories and traditions behind the dishes you are making

What’s included

🍷 Farm visit to collect fresh vegetables before the cooking session

🍷 Wine, local cheese and dried meats to enjoy while cooking

🍷 All ingredients and kitchen equipment

🍷 Full guidance from Sofia Vieira throughout the session

🍷 A complete shared meal of everything you prepared together

What you leave with

A full traditional Portuguese meal eaten at the table with the people who cooked it, a genuine understanding of Alentejo food culture, and recipes rooted in a region that has been cooking this way for centuries.

I am Sofia Vieira and I love to cook, to eat and to share my traditions. My first job was as a tour guide in Portugal and around the world, and about 27 years ago I came with my family to the Alentejo and we ran a restaurant here for 15 years. Now I live on a small farm just outside the walls of Évora, a Unesco World Heritage city that is quiet, unhurried and genuinely unlike anywhere else in Portugal. When I travel I am always curious about what people eat and why, and that same curiosity is what I bring to every session I host.

Available for lunch from around 11am or dinner from around 6pm. Duration approximately 2.5 hours. Please inform Sofia of any dietary restrictions or preferences in advance.