Gourmet products local specialties and wines São Jorge

One of the island's three cheese factories. On weekdays, you can visit the factory and see how the famous São Jorge cheese is made. Very interesting! You can also drop in just to fill your suitcase: it's the only place where you can buy vacuum-packed cheese! We remind you that São Jorge cheese is one of the Azores archipelago's best-known specialities, and holds the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).

A little way out of town, it's not the easiest place to find. But your patience will be rewarded! Maria de Fatima Brasil's workshop is filled with the smell of pastry. Wafers, meringues, cigars, caramels, cookies of all kinds, massa sovada, not to mention the famous Espèces de São Jorge, everything here is made the old-fashioned way and baked over a wood fire. A real treat! The bakery also has a sales outlet on Topo's main street, some 50 metres down from Império.

One of the island's three cheese factories. Before entering, you put on a sterile garment, and off you go on a guided tour to discover how the delicious São Jorge cheese is made. At the end of the tour, there's a small tasting session, before heading off to the store. The staff are friendly, and as cheese is the island's specialty, we strongly advise you to stop by and discover the know-how of São Jorge's cheese-makers.

This is one of the three cheese factories of São Jorge: an opportunity for an instructive and greedy break. We remind you that the Azores cheese has an international reputation and is the most famous specialty of the archipelago. It is a semi-soft or hard cheese, slightly spicy. It has a circular shape and weighs from 7 to 12 kilos; it is usually cut into wedges. It has a protected designation of origin (PDO).

Open every other Saturday, alternating with the Calheta market, this small Mercado Municipal welcomes local producers who come to sell their produce. Vegetables, fish, cheeses, you can also find a few handicrafts and mingle with the inhabitants of Velas, who are very attached to the products of their land. For those with a sweet tooth, it's the perfect opportunity to try the "Espécies de São Jorge", typical island cookies in the shape of small crowns with an openwork top, flavoured with cinnamon, pepper and fennel seeds.