The coastal town of Nazare — about an hour’s drive north of Lisbon — is a popular tourist destination best known for its lovely beach. In the winter, storm swells create some of the largest waves in the world and the town is extremely popular with surfers. Nazare holds a Guiness Book World Record for being the place the largest wave ever recorded was surfed (which was more than 23 meters tall).
The history of the town is tied to fish and fishing. Fishing continues to be an important contribution to the local economy, but the fleets and techniques are now modernized. Long gone are the days when men would row out at night in small boats and fish by lantern light.
The town remembers its history and provides a nice beach display of historic fishing boats of a variety of sizes….
The practice of sun-drying fish is an ancient way of preserving the day’s catch and is still used to this day. Fresh fish can be purchased at thetown’s market. Excess fish are dried. Most of the fish drying is performed by women from Nazare, as has been the tradition for centuries.
(sun-drying and selling fish on Nazare beach)
On a nice day you can see the fish drying, and dry fish being sold. Species locally caught include sardines, mackerel, dogfish, ray and octopus.
(drying octopus)
To sun-dry a fish it first is “drawn”, with removal of the guts. The fish is then washed and passed through salted water (brine). The fish is opened, spread on the drying rack, and placed in the sun. Drying takes between 2 to 3 days, depending on the weather and humidity.
(assorted drying fish on racks on Nazare beach)
Overhead nets keep seagulls and other birds away from the drying catch. During the course of the day the fish get turned, and we watched as several people did this.
The dried fish are for sale near the racks. Dried fish can be eaten raw or cooked and drizzled with olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice, and chopped garlic. I would have been interested in trying them, but we had no cooking facilities, and the fish can’t be transported overseas, so we had to be satisfied with looking.
Fantastic Photos and story. I enjoy my fish smoked.