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Ra-Ro Journal
Rare Stories
Stories, news and behind the scenes of Portuguese craft. What’s happening in the workshops, at the fairs and at Ra-Ro.
Rainy nights in Portugal: mead, bitter honey and wool blankets
Heather honey mead, bitter honey from the Algarve and a cobertor de papa from Maçainhas: the Ra‑Ro winter kit for the first rainy nights, with serving tips, wool care and Christmas gift ideas.
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What makes a piece rare? How rarity is measured in handmade crafts
What makes a handmade piece rare? I explain the criteria we use (how many hands still make it, technique, time, raw material) and the five levels of the Ra‑Ro Index, with real examples.
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Palm leaf bag from Tavira: the hands that still go to the fields
Fifty years ago in Tavira, farmers made their own palm leaf baskets. This bag comes from that tradition, made by the hands of AECT's artisans.
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Between the machine and the wait: Isidoro Ramos's barreleira
An esparto basket for the laundry that waited for the barrela. Isidoro Ramos, from Paderne, makes the barreleira with the empreita his grandmother and mother taught him.
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The Algarve beyond the beach: what to see and which crafts to take home
Beyond the beaches, the real Algarve: the caves of Lagos, the Ria Formosa, the end of the world at Sagres and Moorish Silves. Plus regional esparto and copper to take home.
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Hammered Copper Cataplana: the slow fire of the Algarve, shaped by hand
Handmade by Nuno Palma in Cachopo, the hammered copper cataplana is traditional coppersmithing from the Algarve. Discover the craft and the piece.
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Hammered Copper Plate: the metal reborn in the hands of a young man from Loulé
Nuno Palma, from Loulé, is rescuing the art of hammered copper: he cuts, softens in the fire, shapes and hardens with the hammer, scrubs with sand and polishes by hand.
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