Spread the towel on the table and prepare the palate for a taste of Beira Baixa. Erada welcomes us with the best of local gastronomy: from the stuffed kid goat to the corn bread with meat, from the chanfana to the porridge of cornflour cob.

This is menu that condenses (at least) three centuries of history. "É del Rei (a Erada), não conhece outro dono mais ou sujeição” (It belongs to the King (the Erada), it knows no other owner or submission), wrote Father Francisco Antunes Domasceno, in 1758. The document (preserved in Torre do Tombo) already referred to Trigais - an annexed village of Erada, and one of the smallest and most remote places in the region.

The arid terrain and the harsh climate did not make life easier for the people of Erada. For centuries, the journey - be it in pastoralism or in the street sale of coal and olive oil - took place between the trails of the mountain. Long days, which would be soothed at dusk by a cup of aguardente de medronho, a traditional strawberry tree brandy - drink that still, to this day, accompanies a good meal in the village.