Mark Robertson Dec 12, 2011:

No problem. I, for one, enjoyed the chase.

lexical (asker) Dec 12, 2011:

No such cake As this was proving very difficult to pin down and was becoming controversial, I thought I should ask the end client to clarify it. They phoned the tourist office in the Algarve town referred to in the text, who confirmed that there is no such thing as "bolo de sarrabulho". The client has now dropped it from the text.

I'm immensely grateful for everyone's efforts and sorry if you feel you have been led on a wild goose chase. I hope you do not feel your time has been totally wasted; I for one have learned quite a lot about sarrabulho, even if it was not what we were looking for. Next time I feel the urge for a pig's blood confection, I shall know what to ask for! This is not the first time that I have challenged an odd term in a tourism text about Portugal and found that the client does not know what they are talking about.

Happy translating!

Mark Robertson Dec 12, 2011:

OK, three things lend support to the idea that bolo de sarrabulho is not a pigs blood concoction:
1. The pig's blood thing is part of the typical gastronomy of northern Portugal,
2. The context, i.e. a list of docaria and the equivalence suggested between amendoa and sarrabulho.
3. The link between sarrabulho and beans (feijão fresco, also known as feijão de debulho)

lexical (asker) Dec 11, 2011:

Mark, Yes, but my text is about the Algarve, hence my sub-title "doçaria do Algarve".

Mark Robertson Dec 11, 2011:

Why Algarve? Fundão is in the Beira Baixa.

lexical (asker) Dec 11, 2011:

Mark, It seems that "sarrabulhento" is an adjective describing feijão in a particular condition (as well as a synonym for desordeiro). I wonder if it's not a stretch too far to deduce from this that it means "made from feijão". I hope someone from the Algarve will cast some light on this.

Mark Robertson Dec 11, 2011:

Sarrabulhento (Fundão Region of Portugal) Feijão já meio seco. Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa., i.e. bolo de feijão, which is a common iguaria in Portugal.