Portuguese seafood

This is a matter of deep national pride. Forget about football and Christiano Ronaldo, forget about port wine, this is our best ever national product. The seafood from our shores.

Want to know the big secret why Portuguese seafood is considered among the best in the world? First, we have a maritime territory of over 3,877,408 square km! Those waters lie in the Atlantic Ocean and the constant mixture of warm water v cold water creates the perfect environment for many species. In some places they still fish like they've done for thousands of years, with small colourful fishing boats (called A arte Xávega) and sometimes with just line and hook for bigger fishes such as tuna or sword fish.

Some of the best towns for fresh fish on the mainland are Sesimbra, Setúbal, Portimão, Olhão, Peniche, Nazaré, Póvoa de Varzim, Ovar, Figueira da Foz and Tavira. The islands of Azores and Madeira also have top notch quality when it comes to seafood. What kind of seafood can you expect to find here? All sorts thankfully! We can start with fresh fish.

We have a predisposition for sardines amongst other things. Just remember that sardine season is between June to September. The rest of the year they will be frozen if served in the restaurants and not fresh/as tasty as they could have been during summer time. They do need a bit of a yearly break so that they can have time to reproduce and grow. We prefer the bigger sardines rather than the smallest ones, indeed eating the smallest ones means you are killing the whole population slowly but surely so always avoid the small sardines if you can wherever you are. The ocean will thank you for the consideration. Come in June to Lisbon and try the big sardines grilled with coarse sea salt outdoors on a slice of bread during the celebrations of St Anthony. Or you can go to Setúbal or Sesimbra and have a huge plate with grilled sardines literally brought directly from the fishing boats, usually accompanied with some boiled potatoes and fresh tomato salad.

For those of you who love cuttlefish, squid or octopus, this country is heaven! Think boiled and braised/grilled and almost always accompanied by olive oil, cilantro/parsley and garlic (A lagareiro style) or deep fried with a slice of lemon (Choco frito), or maybe in a fish stew (Arroz de polvo, Arroz de marisco). 


It is also very popular to order a proper seafood plateau. Huge plate with different combinations of mussels and crustaceans. Often accompanied by toasted bread and butter. Trust me on this, combine that with a bottle of well chilled green wine and you are now having the nicest of food - wine combos there is when it comes to green wine.

Fish stews are immensely popular. We almost always use our indigenous rice called Carolino rice (related to Japanese rice which really sucks in all those lovely food juices and holds all the flavours within the rice itself). Sometimes it is just going to be fish in there, sometimes mussels as well as crustaceans or octopus/squid/cuttlefish. Usually the sauce of the stew is a gastronomical wonder and you will want to clean your whole plate with a piece of bread, not letting the sauce go to waste. Try a Cataplana if you can, it is a dish that you will only be able to find in Portugal. Imagine the creamiest sauce with a dash of paprikas and garlic as well as white wine for those of you who like a bit more of spices in your food without it being spicy/hot.

Seafood tapas, our so called petiscos, will also be a delicious welcome. Have a nibble at a cold and tender octopus salad (salada de polvo), or maybe a bite of shrimps in garlic sauce (gambas à Guilho). My personal favourite are the small clams with parsley or coriander in white wine sauce, the so called Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato. I could eat those every day of my life without getting tired.

Seafood pasta is also widely popular. It will be as good as in Italy in many places, though the pasta is usually cooked for 1-2 minutes longer than in Italy since we prefer that the pasta has soaked up the sauces of the food and are not too dry and al dente.

Next time you are in Portugal, feel free to try all the different kinds of seafood on offer! They are usually very price-worthy if you compare to Western European prices and you can really have a ball with some of the finest and freshest seafood that we have here.