Photography: University of Coimbra
“Is it Dry or Smoked?” – this is the title of a recent project by the University of Coimbra, taking place in Ericeira and Cascais, which aims to use ancient techniques for drying and smoking stingray and octopus, combined with innovation and scientific research for the creation of new food products.
Tiago Verdelhos, researcher at the Marefoz laboratory at the UC MARE pole, explained to the Lusa agency that this project aims to “value products” in the Cascais and Ericeira areas, two coastal towns in the district of Lisbon, “always in the perspective of sustainability”.
value-added products from traditional fish
The initiative, which is part of the UCMar Blue Economy program and is financed by European funds from Mar2020, through A2S – Association for the Sustainable Development of the region – based in Mafra, aims to develop value-added products from fundamental species of traditional fish, such as stingray, octopus or octopus roe, through processing, drying and smoking, promoting its valorization as a differentiated food product, reads in the project explanation.
“We are carrying out studies on local fishing focused on stingray and octopus, very important and emblematic products in that regions. We will try to innovate from the recovery of ancestral techniques that have fallen a little into disuse, such as drying and smoking”, said the researcher.
The process goes through several stages, from monitoring the diversity and quantity of catches of the species, going through the determination of the most appropriate methodologies for fish processing, evaluating the quality of the fresh, dried and smoked product and, finally, disseminating and promoting the final products.
In the case of the stingray, Tiago Verdelhos added, on the coast of Ericeira it has always been an abundant fish, used for family food and preserved to be consumed in times of scarcity. After cleaning and washing, the stingray goes through brine and is then dried in the sun, at the door of the houses, hanging from strings, as if it were clothes to dry.
in Ericeira you can still see stingrays at the door of the houses, hanging from strings, as if they were clothes to dry
A local gastronomic tradition, observed Tiago Verdelhos, which, however, is unknown in the eyes of the general public: “We are taking the stingray, which is perhaps not the most attractive product for the public, and, by making these products based on these techniques, we are already entering a slightly different audience. The feedback we are receiving, on the other hand, is that people do not know [the technique], some are even unaware that it could be done”.
Esta publicação também está disponível em | This article is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)
