Casa do Sorrio
This is a story made of stories, rooted in the family’s origins, in the art of good cooking, of hosting and delighting. A storypassed down by the grandparents of four brothers – Paula, Sandra, Sonia and João – who grew up together, savouring life as a family.
The art of Mother Eulália
In the company of grandfather António and grandmother Conceição, the tables were always full of love, of complicity, friends and family, and delicacies with the best seasonal flavours. Uncles and cousins were regular company and the life of a house always ready to host.
Mother Eulália is also part of this story. She is quite the cook, and believes that cooking warms hearts. She dedicates time to cooking, without ever thinking about time, a delicious way of showing her love for others.
Warming hearts
Mother Eulália is curious, creative and spends hours in the kitchen infusing her art with flavour. She seasons everything in advance and lets it sit for hours. Her dishes do not lack flavour or imagination. She is the biggest fan of slow cooking. Her meat rissoles are probably the best in the world, with a very thin dough that reveals the meat underneath it.
Her roasted kid and famous cod fritters with tomato rice are some of the mouth-watering dishes fondly craved by the family.
In the past, beach snacks included English-style chips, which Mother Eulália would cut with a mandolin and fry in the morning.
Festive occasions such as Easter and Christmas were so intense that they still linger in everyone's memory to this day, tasty moments around the things that truly matter.
EACH EVENT IS PLANNED TO BE AS UNIQUE AS THE FIRST.
With time to live without worrying about time
IN THIS FAMILY, YOU DON’T THINK ABOUT TIME, EXCEPT FOR THE TIMEYOU WANT TO SPEND. WITH FAMILY.
Friends. Other families, and those with whom one wishes to
spend time with. In a family with so many, there is so much to celebrate. The birthdays are many and always another reason to party.
There is never a lack of family or friends and sometimes even neighbours at these gatherings.
The tables are always full of shared hugs, the gift of laughter and savoury dishes to taste. Playfulness echoes throughout each gathering and life is not rushed. It has been like this ever since we were little, and always will be.
THE FOUR BROTHERS GREW UP ACCORDING TO THE ‘TASTE THE SLOW’ PRINCIPLE IN A FULL HOUSE WITH LATE SUPPERS.
From the family to sisters Paula and Sandra.
It is with pride and a great sense of responsibility that Paula and Sandra maintain the family tradition, nurturing moments of conviviality and sharing among their families and those they meet along the way. They do it naturally, without any formal passage of testimony.
Without ever having been taught by anyone, even Mother Eulália, who liked to be alone in the kitchen without pots out of place, or premature questions about what she was cooking. It was the environment they were brought up in and the well-being they felt in sharing family moments that made them want to carry on the legacy of older generations.
Curious to learn and to arrive at their special dishes, they travelled, walked, socialised and discovered new cultures and new ways to bring flavour back to the Family.
Paula, from her travels to her dream.
Paula lived in Brazil – in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul – from where she brought back the cheese bread, bean stew, picanha, shrimp moqueca and the quindim. She also brought Italian gastronomy back from Porto Alegre, one of the places in Brazil where many people are of Italian descent. She loves travelling, and seeks to discover the local gastronomy of the places she visits, where she constantly finds inspiration for her
cooking.
In 2006, she became enchanted with Viana do Castelo, where she found the root of her dream, and named it Casa do Sorrio.
A new family home, where she decided to gather family and friends around a table, no clocks, no rush, no hurry.
HER SISTER SANDRA, WHO HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF PAULA’S ADVENTURES, QUICKLY BECAME HER GREATEST PARTNER IN ALL THINGS CASA DO SORRIO.
Together they began by organizing unique gastronomic experiences, with unlikely combinations and ingredients from the land, carefully chosen for the very people with whom they shared those meals.
From dining experiences, they quickly moved on to cooking workshops, to group experiences – which they have always welcomed as a family. In fact, it’s the only way they know how to host.
In addition to the joy they both get from cooking and the
pleasure of hosting, Paula has another great passion, hiking in
nature.
She is also a seasoned pilgrim of the Way of St. James.
Casa do Sorrio is the starting point for her walks, short or long. It was here that she began bringing together small groups, and
creating outdoor experiences exactly as the groups wanted. For Paula, serving is a lifetime mission and fulfilling it with dedication is the only way to be happy.
And this was the motto to start designing unique, exclusive experiences – gastronomic and outdoor experiences for individuals and groups – always with the aim of making each one unique.