Centro Interpretativo da História do Bacalhau

It happens here

A Grocery Store and a Restaurant where cod is king

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Interpretive Center for the History of Cod opens in July

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Interpretive Center of the History of Cod receives the collection of the Maritime Museum of Ílhavo

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Center Schedule

Mon: 10:00-19:00 (last entry: 18:00)

The saga

Emotional Farewell

The Dory experience

The white fleet

On board

Propaganda

Tasting

Codfish 20.20

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The saga

The great fishing story came to in an almost poetic style – beautiful cod fishing luggers and line fishing heroes throwing themselves into the cold North Atlantic Sea. Open this great adventure book about those who headed north and held up the flag of their ancestors and the great Portuguese navigators.

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Emotional Farewell

Thousands of men headed for the cold Newfoundland and Greenland Sea year after year of cod fishing. They would come from all the Portuguese fishing communities and bring with them the experience of other fishing adventures and a family tradition of life at sea. The blessing of the cod fishermen was a propaganda ritual during Salazar's dictatorship, which preceded their departure. Leaving their families behind on the pier waiting for months to come.

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The Dory experience

An immerse experience putting you in the place of a fisherman alone on his dory. The mother vessel – usually a lugger – is nearby. A man left to his own devices rowing the small boat risking everything in search of fish. Epic and dramatic stories of those who challenged the sea every single day.

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The white fleet

The Portuguese cod fishing fleet became an international legend during World War II. Facing the dangers of the ‘submarine war’ and taking advantage of the Portuguese ambiguous neutrality, the cod fishing fleet vessels were painted white as a security precaution. Watch the departure of one of these mythical White Fleet vessels from the pier.

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On board

A cod fishing campaign would usually last six months to coincide with the best weather conditions in the months of spring and summer. After a long day at sea, which could go on for ten to twelve hours, the fishermen would throw themselves to work in shifts on the deck, salting fish, or in the vessel’s hold. The greatest joy for these men – the entire crew in a cod fishing vessel – was their return home and triumphant entrance on the port.

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Propaganda

Every year, around April, ships and crews would migrate to the other side of the Atlantic and work under harsh conditions. Hopefully, a few months later the ship’s hold would be full of fish and they would be able to return home. The Estado Novo dictatorial regime's motto for mobilising every crew and involving the whole country in the Campanha do Bacalhau was ‘bring home the bread of the sea’.

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Tasting

Codfish is one of the most inventive and diversified food products in the diet of several populations. The diversity of recipes and cooking traditions generated by the Atlantic's codfish reached its maximum expression in Portugal. Codfish has been a part of the Portuguese eating habits since the 15th century. The main character on the Christmas and Easter tables, codfish is one of this country's gastronomic cultural symbols. Join us at the table and see why this lord fish is a regular daily presence.

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Codfish 20.20

Today there is a lot less cod fishing than there used to be. There have always been images of abundance and scarcity, but now we know that the sea has limited resources. Climate change is both a cause and an effect of the changes in the behaviour of species. We do not know if our cherished gadidae will ever be absent from the tables of the Portuguese, who consume the equivalent to 20% of codfish caught around the world. What will the future bring for cod fishing?

Viana-Style Codfish

Gomes de Sá Codfish

Codfish With Port Wine

Provençal Cod

Codfish Ensopado

Codfish With Milk

Codfish Encyclopedia

Codfish is the single delicacy appreciated by everyone. There are 1001 possible ways for our ‘loyal friend’ to come to the table and it is one of the symbols of Portuguese gastronomy deeply rooted in the eating habits of the Portuguese. Find out the recipes for our traditional cuisine, its origin, and history in the Codfish Encyclopaedia.

Bulk

Fun facts about cod fishing

A female cod can produce

three to nine
million eggs

in one go!

Codfish may live for more than

20 years

and weigh up to 198 lbs!

Codfish is a...

carnivore!

It eats a variety of fish like herring, haddock, and monkfish.

Cod Wars.

It could be fiction, but it is not. It was not an armed conflict but rather a series of confrontations between Iceland and the United Kingdom in the 1940s-1970s for fishing rights.

Do you remember your mother making you eat cod liver oil? In spite of tasting bad, this supplement is high in

omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin A and D,

which do wonders to your health!

Fish and chips

– the British prime fast food meal that is served
in thousands of pubs and restaurants –
is mostly made with codfish.

There is no Christmas in Portugal without codfish, but our gadidae is also consumed in other countries like Norway, where they eat a dish called

lutefisk

(codfish that is processed with caustic soda and then steamed).

The scientific name for codfish – Gadus Morhua – derives from the Ancient Greek

Gados (fish)

and Morue, which is French for cod.

The Portuguese cod fishermen were particularly devoted to the several variations of

Our Lady:

Our Lady of the Afflicted, Our Lady of Navigators, and Our Lady of Nazareth.

Nothing is wasted in cod fishing... even the contents in

codfish stomachs,

which are brought to the ships, such as small fish that will be reused as bait on the following fishing day.

It is also important

to fish for squid

when cod fishing, since they are the preferred bait. In the early 20th century, the first fisherman to catch a squid would be awarded a bottle of brandy.