Consolfood 2016 | Sharing knowledge

Around 80 participants from 20 countries came to the international conference on solar cooking “Consolfood 2016” at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Algarve (ISE). They were warmly welcomed by Professor Celestino Ruivo (photo) and his team. During the two-day meeting, new technologies were presented and knowledge exchanged from different fields.

Solar fruit driers for figs, plums, mangoes, for foodstuffs such as spirulina, tomatoes and beans – the different techniques and construction methods for solar cookers – the new solar refrigerators – and the variety of recipes and preparation methods for solar cooking, were the focus of the event. In the auditorium and on the Penha campus, worldwide education programmes were discussed, and 15 lectures could be heard from Canada, Mexico, India, Spain, Uganda, Brazil, Britain, Germany, France, the USA, South Africa, Kenya, Chile and Portugal. They mainly dealt with the technology itself, efficiency, vacuum cooking and water purification in different parts of the world, even in hostile environments such as Antarctica, deserts and outer space.

In an interview with ECO123, Celestino Ruivo underscored his expectation that more use will now be made of solar cooking in Portuguese cuisine. In a region with over 300 days of sunshine per year, he also expects to see solar cooking in restaurants, schools and hotels. The most efficient parabolic solar cooker in its class costs around 300 euros. The materials for DIY and semi-professional cookers cost less than 50 euros. Several workshops with guidance on making a solar cooker yourself will soon be taking place in Faro. Please enquire about dates.