“Olive oil, and lots of it!” she says. At the Viscounts of Várzea Manor, one of the noblest houses in the Douro Valley, near the city of Lamego, 90 minutes east of Porto, her cooking class is an intense celebration of this nectar – and Portugal’s aristocratic history.
The temple where it takes place is the mansion’s old kitchen. The ceremony begins with a hearty caldo verde, a cabbage broth with chorizos, well drizzled with olive oil, whose domestic origins date back to the rich diet of the estate’s workers. It continues with a stupendous bola de carne, a meat cake made from a dough to which olive oil is indispensable. It ends with tender meat medallions cosied up in a mushroom sauce, which also wouldn’t exist without the same sacred oil.
The lady of the house presides, guides, and helps with the ceremony, but the guests get their hands dirty, in the finest way: they must cook it all by themselves. The olive oil is unique: it comes from the olive groves on the 200 hectares surrounding the house.
There are many cooking classes in various latitudes, but none like that of this viscountess, and countess, a direct descendant of the first Viscount of Váreza, a nobiliary title created at the beginning of the 19th century, and wife of the 10th Count of Feira, an honour that dates to the 1400s.
All of this is impressive, yes, but it’s fundamentally important because a culinary lesson here at the five stars Viscounts of Várzea Manor Rural Hotel is also a lesson in Portuguese history and personal history. It happens at any time of the year, and especially in the months between December and February, when there are fewer visitors, and the host has all the time in the world to dedicate herself to the guests.
The house, a beautiful building that combines late Gothic and Baroque styles, is so old that it is associated with the tutor of Portugal’s first king, Afonso Henriques, dating back almost 900 years, and went through critical times such as the Napoleonic invasions. She recounts all this while preparing lunch with the lodgers, adding her own memories.
She was just over 20 years old when her family had to sell the property as a result of the 1974 Democratic Revolution. Two decades later, she bought it back from the Seagram company – then owner of Sandeman Port wines, which used the vineyards on this land –, after a career as an English teacher and businesswoman in the fashion industry. It was then, 27 years ago, that she returned the prestige to the Viscounts of Várzea Manor and launched the hotel. She is an unstoppable woman who accepts no obstacles to her dreams, including the truly noble ones: at the age of 50, against all the odds, she became a mother. Her sons, like her husband, join her on all fronts of the project.
Those who decide to discover the Viscounts of Várzea Manor have an extraordinary little universe waiting for them. In addition to visiting the olive groves, there are tours of the vineyards, which produce the house’s red, white, and rosé (the house also has an exclusive Port wine), as well as a large part of the grapes for Murganheira, one of Portugal’s best sparkling wines. The stable is home to ten horses and ponies available for rides in the surrounding lands. And guests can also take part in making bread in the wood-fired ovens or pick apples – the estate is rich in these fruits, and many others. Everything can be savoured at picnics, or at lunches on boats cruising the Douro River.
This is undoubtedly the best of aristocratic Portugal: real and warm, where nobility titles are above all important because they lead us to the history of a country and the people who represent it. Welcome to the kitchen of the viscountess, countess and, almost certainly, a future friend.
