The legend of Abadense bread

The village of Ponte do Abade has long been known for its exceptional bread.

The tradition dates back to the time when a woman called Amália lived in the quiet village and loved to experiment. The fact that she liked to invent was a remarkable phenomenon in itself, but her skills for innovation left a lot to be desired, which is why she was known as ‘the clumsy scientist’. Perhaps it was her age, perhaps it was her genius, the truth is that she was very clumsy and constantly forgot things, because whenever she set out to do an experiment she never knew how she was going to do it, constantly changing the formulae.

One stormy day, she cosied up by the fireplace in her house and started eating a loaf of bread she had bought at the village bakery. As he chewed, he found it tasteless. His ingenuity immediately started thinking.

-I know! - she exclaimed. - I'll speak to the bakers! This bread has to change flavour!!!

The woman had no luck and ran for her life. However, maintaining her tenacity, she returned that same evening. After much insistence, the bakers finally allowed her to carry out the desired experiment. From then on, the bread was great and the bakery had more customers. The bakers wanted to thank her and ask her what the magic formula was, but they found poor Amalia dead on the floor of her house. It was a terrible day for the bakers! The lady had died with her secret.

But some miracle must have happened, because since then the bread from Ponte de Abade has not left its good reputation in the hands of others, and is still as delicious as it was on the night of the ‘scientist’ Amália's invention!