Ferreirinhas: sweet tributes to the city and its people

These are bits of pleasure that taunt the most cautious rover in the land of the Douro. They are symbioses of flavours which conjure up the urges of gluttony. In Peso da Régua, the land of fortified wine par excellence, Maria do Céu Pires gives life to other sweets which dissolve in the mouth: the ferreirrinha and the régula.

Dark brown, with a soft texture, the ferreirinha was the first creation of Maria do Céu, 57. It was designed as a tribute to the Douro women “who have always been terribly battered”. “They work hard in the fields and the vineyards, and then they still have their homes to look after,” she points out.

In 1997, the sweet maker created a squash and dried fruit-based chocolate (raisins, almonds and pine nuts), with a Port Wine flavour and covered in black chocolate.

After cooking the squash, Maria do Céu blends the egg yolks, the almonds, the raisins and the Port Wine. Everything is coated with angel hair and covered in a little bitter chocolate.

The chocolate base is wrapped in tin foil so as to “not dry too much”, and must be consumed within 30 days. It is topped with a pine nut wrapped in squash.

In just one hour, Maria do Ceú manages to make 24 sweets, sold at 90 cents. The ferreirinha is usually used to grace conferences in the region and should be tasted with Port Wine, champagne or tea.

The chocolate is named after Ferreirinha, a well-known figure to the people of the region and the heartbeat of winegrowing in Douro. Born in Godim, in 1811, Antónia Adelaide Ferreira became the greatest landowner in the Douro and a symbol of generosity.

Ferreirinha of Régua, as she was also known, went as far as buying the whole wine production in the Douro to help farmers in their fight against the low prices brought about by a surplus crisis and helped build the Peso da Régua, Vila Real, Moncorvo and Lamego hospitals, also contributing to the Misericórdia do Porto charity.

Maria do Céu knows that her sweets have reached Angola, Brazil, France, Switzerland and England, taken by emigrants. As for the tourists who visit her place and let themselves be carried away by tasteful sensations, “they say that each is better than the one before.”

Text: Patricia Posse | Daniel Faiões

  Watch video