The shores of the Minho around Valença are bountiful, wild flora growing profusely, amid an array of stream banks and hamlets, enthralling lovers of Nature and landscape alike. I first thought of creating a gin, while I too ambled through the countryside, holding a basket, gathering herbs and fruits. Dill, God’s herb, and laurel for seasoning, mint-scented catnip, the bark of white willow, which they say stands for purity, miraculous elderberry, fragrant herb-robert and lemon balm, the lingering scent of the eucalyptus leaf, the pungent aroma of rosemary and lavender, the tannic properties of wild celery or Holy Ghost herb, the citrusy of lemon and orange and, lastly, the spell of the blackberries : all these I picked and selected. I then submitted each of these ingredients, separately, to a maceration technique. But there was still something missing - hidden deep in the memory a lost flavour and taste persisted... For I had to wait for the season of a singular fruit, exclusive to Valença, the perico. The perico is the product of a graft of a variety of pear onto a local tree known as the escramboeiro, I hoped that its delicate sweet and sour tang, so familiar to me since childhood, would add something truly memorable, and after ninety days of maceration I was rewarded beyond all my expectations! I selected two kinds of cereals, rye and barley, which, together with the juniper, the citrusy of the lemon and orange peels and the freshness of top quality water combined into a perfect marriage!