Cart
0
Porta da Loja apple (maçã Porta da Loja) is a traditional apple variety from northern Portugal, linked to the Monastery of Tibães, in Braga. It has yellow skin heavily streaked with red, firm yellowish flesh and a tart flavour. A late variety, it keeps for months without refrigeration, which made it the pantry apple of Minho.
Origin and history
The Porta da Loja is an old variety associated with the Benedictine Monastery of Tibães, where monks grew it for centuries. Its cultivation at the monastery is recorded at the 2nd Pomology Congress, in 1926. Later, Minho farmers kept planting it for its hardiness and its ability to last all winter.
The name comes from the loja, the ground-floor room of traditional houses, just behind the front door, where food and farm tools were stored. There, in wooden chests with straw or corn, or on shelves, the apple spent the cold months. With rural exodus and imported apples, it became rare and nearly disappeared.
How it is grown and stored
It is a late-ripening variety. Today harvest begins in October, but in the past farmers waited for the fruit to drop naturally from the tree, to ensure full ripeness. It appears at markets until early spring, because it keeps for several months without refrigeration while retaining its qualities.
In Tibães, the Casais family of Porta da Loja set out to rescue the variety: they searched for the last living trees, worked with agricultural researchers to catalogue and preserve viable specimens and planted new orchards.
Where it comes from
The Porta da Loja apple comes from Minho, particularly the Tibães area in the municipality of Braga. Its fame rarely travelled south of the Douro.
How to recognise it and care for it
You can recognise it by its yellow skin with plenty of red, irregular in appearance, and by its open calyx eye. It is a small to medium, uneven apple, far from the perfection of supermarket apples. The taste is tart and fresh, the flesh firm. Keep it somewhere cool, dry and dark, as in the loja of Minho houses, and check it from time to time.
Where to buy
At Ra-Ro you can buy the Porta da Loja Apple, sold in boxes of about 1 kg, and the Porta da Loja Extra Apple Jam, both from the Casais family in Tibães. Availability of the fresh fruit depends on the season.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Porta da Loja apple?
It is an old apple variety from Minho, linked to Tibães Monastery, with yellow and red skin, firm flesh and a tart taste, which keeps for months without cold storage.
Why is it called Porta da Loja?
Because it was stored in the loja, the ground-floor room behind the front door of traditional houses, where food and farm tools were kept.
Where can I buy Porta da Loja apples?
In the Braga region or online at Ra-Ro, which sells the fresh apple and the Porta da Loja apple jam produced by the Casais family in Tibães.
