Lusito Land Festival announces its menus

PORTUGAL’S ever-popular sugary fartura is the centrepiece of this year’s annual culinary showcase, the Lusito Land Festival which will take place from April 26 to May 1, at its new and improved venue at Cayman Road, Alewynspoort, Johannesburg South.

Farturas are Moorish-inspired pastries, and are as Portuguese as other timeless favourites: grilled piri piri chicken, chouriço, prego rolls, chicken livers, giblets and seafood, including prawns and calamari. All these will be available at six 300-seater restaurants, six pubs and street cafés at the festival – prepared as only the Portuguese can!

Read: Lusito Land’s all-star line-up

The farturas will be cooked by teachers, parents and volunteers of the Lusito School, the charitable beneficiary of the Lusito Land Festival. The Farturas are a Portuguese version of Mexican churros. They are long, tube-shaped doughnuts with ridges, made with flour, eggs and salt. They are fried in vegetable oil and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. This delicacy has become a favourite at the Lusito Land Festival with on average 70 000 sold, using 3 000kg of flour, 3 000 litres of oil, 31 500 eggs, 62kg of salt, 1 375kg of sugar and 53kg of cinnamon.

Among the six restaurants of the festival there are a number of Portuguese favourites. One new addition is Mo-Zam-Bik, a family restaurant offering a relaxed Mozambique Baracca vibe. There will be of course our signature favourites: Espetada, with their tantalising famous Espetada a Madeirense; Churrasco, inspired by the famous umbrella festival in Agueda and offering mouth-watering dishes; Frangalo, the perfect place for a piri piri chicken; Belem from the capital of Portugal with their all-time favourites and A Cozinha.

Relax in one of our pubs and sip on the Lusito Land Caipirinha, a cocktail of cane, castor sugar and lemons, sample a Portuguese beer or a Catembe while nibbling on a Portuguese Petisco.

Noemia Contente, spokesperson from the Lusito Association for the Physically and Mentally Handicapped, says Portuguese food is known for its tang and flavour, and the menus at this year’s festival will blow your taste buds. “This gastronomic diversity is derived from the unique variety of Portugal’s geographical conditions, combined with its history of Portuguese exploration of the world, in which they embraced so many world cultures. The Portuguese have always had to adapt to influences, resulting in the rich array of spices and other exotic ingredients in their dishes,” explains Contente. Portugal also has some of the finest coffees and wines to accompany and follow its fine foods.

Also Read: Lusito Land moves to new home

Proceeds of this exciting food and music extravaganza go towards raising much-needed funds for the Lusito Association for mentally and physically handicapped children.

For further information on Lusito Land and Lusito School, visit www.lusitoassociation.org.za. Tickets for the festival are now available at Computicket as follows: children aged under six are free; children aged six to 12 years pay R50; senior citizens pay R50; and adults and teens, R120.

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