Products from Azores

Nine islands in the middle of the Atlantic, volcanic, with green pasture almost all year and a dairy culture that shapes much of what comes from here. From here come queijo de São Jorge DOP (Portugal's protected designation of origin, raw cow's milk, a minimum three-month cure), queijo do Pico, the São Miguel pineapple grown under glass, the tea of Gorreana and Porto Formoso (the only tea grown in Europe), alcatra from Terceira (beef braised slowly in a clay pot), tinned tuna and bonito, Verdelho wine from Pico grown inside stone-walled currais (a UNESCO site), and passion fruit liqueur. The islands have shipping times and costs of their own, and each listing states the real lead time to the mainland.