My visit to a bakery in Odiáxere revealed an astonishing family saga highlighting the social history of the last 100 years in the Algarve. The story follows a family’s generational journey from adversity to prosperity – which all started with baking bread.
Finding the Bakery Pão d’ Avó Maria in the back streets of Odiáxere is not easy. It has no signage but you can find it by following your nose towards the delicious smell of baking coming from its traditional, wood-fired bread ovens. It is renowned locally not only for its baking, which relies on recipes passed down for generations with no artificial ingredients, but the history of Conceição, the remarkable woman who founded it. I met her children, Elza and Manuel Correia, to hear about their extraordinary family history while tucking into one of their exquisite pastel de nata!
Childhood Memories
Maria da Conceição Boto Duarte Correia, better known as D. Conceição, was born on 13 March, 1941 in a rural community in Silves to Boaventura Duarte and Germana de Conceição. “Life was tough, but people helped each other. It was a circular economy where one person baked bread and gave it to their neighbours and the other neighbour gave eggs,” explains Elza. In this setting, the young Maria Conceição was raised with a sense of helping your neighbours. It was a characteristic that would help her earn public accolades in the future.
However, life may initially not have seemed fair for the young girl. As the eldest of four children, Maria was forced to leave school at the age of ten when her mother became pregnant with her third brother. Her older mother’s bad health meant Maria Conceição was given the role of caring for her younger brother and her grandmother. In those times, children were always required to help their elders.
Their three-bedroom house had no electricity, running water or inside bathroom. They had a small brick oven outside where bread was baked once a week. By the time she was 12, Maria Conceição was in charge of baking, and she learned the secrets of the art of making homemade bread, a taste and “know-how” passed through the generations.
The starter is at the core of sourdough bread – a living culture made of flour and water containing wild yeast and beneficial bacteria. In the Algarve, a family starter is often passed down through generations, adding a sense of history and personal touch to each loaf.
Elza and Manuel have early memories of driving cattle all the way from Silves to the market in Aljezur, as no one had motorised vehicles. “My grandfather kept horses,” Manuel recalls with a smile. He shows me his phone and a photo of himself astride a magnificent horse. “I inherited his passion,” he tells me.
However, from simple origins, the family started to show some early entrepreneurial spirit. Maria Conceição´s father, Boaventura Duarte, walked on foot from Silves to France after WW1 to bring money back home. “So what would you expect from the daughter of someone who had that sort of drive,” asks Elza.
“I remember he then had enough money to start to lend it to others in the community and have it repaid with interest. A primitive banker,” adds Manuel. As a result, the family earned some social elevation.
Good Neighbours
D. Conceição met her future husband José Correia, who was also from Silves, and they married when she was 21. He owned some tractors and other machinery, and found work in Odiáxere, where there were still rice plantations.
It was then that he saw the house for sale that is still in the family today. Having found a house and work in Odiáxere, the young couple moved there. D. Conceição was a housewife and Elza remembers her making their clothes, taking care of the garden and growing vegetables in the garden. They kept chickens and rabbits. D. Conceição also volunteered in the local community as a scout leader. “She would take the local children on summer camps and supervised them baking bread around a campfire,” recalls Elza. She was also a committed Catholic and took the children for catechesis, teaching the faith to the younger members of the community.
In the meantime, some of José’s machines were getting old and the construction business slowed down. Some friends of D. Conceição suggested, “You make such good bread? Why don’t you do it to sell? We would buy it.”
At this time, Elza was 18 years old and wanted to go to Lisbon to study. Her eyes fill with tears: “This is always a bit emotional for me. My mother started to sell bread twice a week so that I could study because she never had that opportunity. She was not a legalised business then, but the neighbours would buy it. Many people started to come to her house, so she contracted a lady living here on the street to help. And in the meantime, my father also started to help, so the business started to grow, so much so that she needed to build a bigger oven.”
The Odiáxere bakery began as a small family business, with two small ovens heated with eucalyptus and a small, totally handmade production sold almost entirely to their neighbours. From these humble beginnings and the magic touch of D. Conceição, the famous Pão de Odiáxere quickly became recognised for its authenticity and distinct flavour. Around this time, Elza, who had by now finished her studies, and Manuel, who had lived in Germany for ten years, saw the potential for their mother’s business and decided to return to their roots and help her.
A Family Tradition
The new enterprise also started baking cakes from their grandmother’s recipe, which had been passed down for generations by word of mouth. Essential to their concept was that there were no artificial ingredients. Production increased with the rise in demand, but they have always remained faithful to the principles of tradition and quality.
Initially, the products were sold through the Odiáxere bakery and supplied to small supermarkets like Alisuper. One of their early customers was Sr Baptista, (owner of Baptista supermarket in Luz) who used to come to collect the bread in his old Toyota Starlet because, at that time, they didn’t have any vans to distribute their produce.
By 2005, ten people were working for D. Conceição, and her children helped her buy more land, and build a factory and shop. At that time, she was called Avó Maria by her grandchildren, so they adopted the name for her bread, and the Pão d’Avó Maria brand was born.
One of the greatest lessons Elza has taken from her mother’s life is: “Do what you love with passion and dedication, and anything is possible. Take control of your life and turn your struggles into strength to propel you forward.”
The family then established a Lagos premises, which acted as a shop and café. In 2006, they opened in Santo Amaro, their second store in Lagos, and in 2007, the third, in Ameijeira. Sadly José passed away in 2012.
A Life Well Lived
The growth of the business did not change D. Conceição. Known for her humble nature, she dedicated herself to work and was always ready to help those who needed it most. But as Elza recalls, “She was also very tough and could be hard to work for, but she had a good heart.” She frequently collaborated with social solidarity institutions and charity initiatives, donating bread to CASLAS (the children´s home) and reinforcing her food’s positive impact on the community.
Elza recalls that her mother “shared everything she achieved through her work, believing wholeheartedly that it had been possible with God’s help. Her vision of life was always: ‘We are here to make the world a better place.’ And in her own way, that is exactly what she did.”
The City Council publicly recognised D. Conceição’s work in helping her community and her entrepreneurial qualities. They awarded her a Louvor Público Municipal medal in a ceremony that her children proudly attended on 27 October 2007. In addition, she had a street in Odiáxere named after her, ensuring her legacy and her bread will live on in the hearts and minds of the local community she loved and fed.
Elza notes, “My mother embodied what modern-day coaches now teach: ‘Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life’.”
D° Conceição passed away on 11 December 2021, at the age of 80.
A Tour of the Bakery
Manuel and Elza take me on a tour of the bakery. Manuel emphasises, “We carry on our mother´s legacy to serve the community. We sell all the products in small quantities as well as large so that people on smaller budgets can come and sample what we make.”
Their best-selling products include biscuits made from their grandmother’s recipe and pastéis de nata, as well as more modern inventions like croissants and quiche. The artisanal essence of the products remains unchanged; all are made without dyes or preservatives, using biological seeds and good-quality sea salt.
The spotless factory is currently quiet, having seen the end of the night shift, and everything breathes order and cleanliness. Manuel shows me the vast fridge where they store the big bags of dough. Then, when the bakers arrive at night, they start the fermentation process.
Making sourdough bread, mainly using a starter, is both an art and a science. Creating a starter begins with mixing equal parts flour and water. The mixture is left to ferment at room temperature, where the natural yeast from the environment and the flour work their magic. The wild yeast feeds on the sugars in the flour, creating lactic acid that contributes to the bread’s distinctive tang. When hot water is introduced (typically at a temperature between 30°C and 35°C), it helps dissolve the flour and engages the yeast.
The starter will start bubbling and developing a pleasant sour aroma, indicating it’s active and ready for baking. Bakers routinely “feed” the starter to keep it lively by discarding a portion and adding fresh flour and water. Once the starter is activated, a portion is blended into a large bowl with more flour, water and salt. This activated starter brings a depth of flavour and a natural leavening agent to the dough.
Kneading the dough is another step where tradition is key. In the Algarve, bakers often use a gentle folding technique rather than intensive kneading, allowing the gluten to develop naturally over time. The baker grabs each of the dough balls, and stretches it on one side to get the head, and folds it over the base. They then place the stretched bread on the shovel, taking care to spread it with their hands. After some time, the baker moves the bread from one side of the oven to the other, in order to acquire a uniform colour.
Elza opens the oven door, which is not at full temperature; it is kept at 180º when they are not baking. I stand in awe before the cavernous space where centuries of tradition meet the warmth of the flames. I ask how on earth they get the bread out of such a large space, which must go back 10 metres. Elza grins, pointing to long wooden sticks with a shovel on the end used to push the loaves in and out. The oven is heated using local eucalyptus wood, which Manuel still brings from the family land in Silves, creating a unique flavour and texture to the bread. Aware of the necessity of keeping traditions and the land intact, he returns the ash back to the land where the trees grow.
As the bread bakes, the crust becomes beautifully caramelised, and the inner crumb remains soft and airy. The aroma that wafts through the baker’s shop is a testament to the care that has gone into every step of the process. Manuel believes this also gives their pastéis de nata that mouth-watering light and crispy pastry.
Baking Traditions
At this time of year, the bakers produce folar cake, a traditional Portuguese pastry with significant cultural and culinary importance, particularly during the Easter season. Folar is more than just a dessert; it symbolises the celebration of Easter and is deeply rooted in customs and family traditions. It is believed to represent the end of the Lenten fast, a period of reflection and abstinence leading up to Easter Sunday.
Typically made with a sweet yeast dough, folar cake can feature a variety of fillings, such as cinnamon and sugar, and, at Easter time, they add hard-boiled eggs, which are integrated into the dough or baked on top. Elza and Manuel enrich the dough with zest from local Algarve lemons, which bring a citrusy aroma to the finished product.
The bakery now employs around 40 people, and their products are distributed from their three Lagos shops, with one in Portimão. They also still sell to small supermarkets in Lagos and Portimão, including, amongst others, Baptista in Praia da Luz, and Supersol in Vila do Bispo and Raposeira. The siblings are happy to continue their family traditions and say they have no disagreements as they have their own roles within the business. They hope that one day their children may be interested in keeping the tradition in the family.
A Delicious Taste of the Future
These days, when everyone is telling us not to eat bread as it is over-processed, this is the antidote – a natural home-baked bread made with love. Whether enjoyed fresh from the oven, paired with local olive oil, or as the foundation for a tosta mista, sourdough bread from the Algarve is more than food – it’s a tangible connection to the region’s rich agricultural history and the artistry of its bakers. In a world of fast-paced production, this slow, careful bread-making method is a heartfelt reminder to savour the bread and the journey it takes from starter to table.
In a rapidly changing world, Pão d’Avo Maria stands as a testament to the enduring power of family, heritage, and community spirit.
Facebook: @paodavomaria2
Locations:
- Rua da Alegria Nº 6, 8600-250 Odiáxere
- Rua Vasco da Gama, Urb Rossio de S.João Lote 3 Loja AM, 8600 Lagos
- Largo do Moinho Lote 7 Loja A, Lagos
- Rua da Ameijeira Nº 9 Lagos
- Rua Poeta António Aleixo Torre A Loja D 8500 Portimão
