Illustrative map at the Centro Interpretativo da História do Bacalhau, Lisbon.
Many things have changed in Lisbon's famous and always crowded Praça do Comércio. To begin with, for the first time in many years, it is now possible to walk under its historic arcades without having to dodge hordes of people, but it is also that, in one of its corners, they have just inaugurated the Centro Interpretativo da História do Bacalhau, a place where you can learn everything about this fish known in Portugal as the “bread of the seas”, but also in which to enjoy a universe of textures, flavors and preparations.
As soon as you enter the building, previously occupied by the well-known Café Central de Lisboa, you enter the shop and restaurant area. impressive to see the enormous variety of types of preserves that there is for sale on the exhibitors, for something It is said that everything is used from the cod, even what its stomach contains when it is caught, which is reused as bait for new catches. There are also ceramics, cookbooks and gifts of all kinds related to this migratory fish.
Store area of the Centro Interpretativo da História do Bacalhau, Lisbon.
The center of the space is occupied by a typical stall selling dried cod, equipped with its old scale, its special knife that looks like a guillotine and its glass counter to be able to choose the product before buying it. Around it are the tables of its Terra Nova Mercearia restaurant (there is a more formal one attached to the facilities), where to try typically Portuguese petiscos: pasteis da bacalhau in miniature, octopus salad or saladinhos with which to whet your appetite, all well washed down with a Regiâo de Lisboa wine.
Once the ticket has been paid and the turnstiles of the interpretive center have been passed, an educational and interactive journey begins in which browse the most epic stories of Portugal: the discovery of Newfoundland and the cod fishing campaigns carried out by the Portuguese in the icy seas of the North Atlantic.
The tour begins on the ground floor with a gigantic adventure book in which the feats of A Saga de bacalhaueiros are poetically projected that were thrown into the cold seas of Newfoundland and Greenland and continues in a room entitled O Adeus, which recalls the ritual with which these fishing heroes were bid farewell by their relatives on the docks.
Interactive book at the Bacalhau History Interpretive Center.
Along the way, we find on the walls representations of famous paintings from the History of Art in which the main characters have been replaced by codfish and paintings with old photographs, as well as other interactive ones in which the images follow each other to make the visit more enjoyable.
draw attention the immersive experience Dóri, which is named after the small and traditional boats in which the fishermen threw themselves into the sea and that recreates both the pounding of the waves against the bow and the low temperatures that they had to endure.
Continue the historical journey knowing a little more about the nicknamed Portuguese White Fleet, which during World War II had to paint its ships in this neutral color against the dangers of the dreaded 'submarine warfare', and continues with an entertaining demonstration that describes what it was like being on board a cod fishing campaign, that could last up to half a year at sea.
Room entitled A Frota Branca, at the Bacalhau History Interpretive Center.
On the first floor the narrative becomes much more greedy, since, sitting at an interactive table, we 'taste' with our eyes –in the form of images that appear on our plates– the importance of cod in the country's diet, as well as its prominence on important dates in the Portuguese calendar, such as Christmas and Easter. All while on TV in the 'dining room' Several internationally renowned Portuguese chefs list the benefits of cod in their recipes.
Because, as the Cod Encyclopedia reminds us, there are more than a thousand ways to prepare this fish which is a symbol of Portuguese gastronomy, popular culture and national identity.
Dóri immersive experience, at the Bacalhau History Interpretive Center.
Others are the curiosities that illustrate our journey by the interpretive center, in some cases printed on posters in the shape of dried cod that hang through the space imitating the process by which fish is dried on wooden structures in the open air by the sea (stockfish): cod is a carnivorous animal, it can live more than 20 years, squid is used as bait, Portugal consumes 20% of all the cod caught in the world...
Also there is a funny wall with Portuguese sayings in which cod has been integrated into the sentence to convey a complete concept: "Para quem bacalhau basta..." ('you don't deserve anything better'), "Lean like Swedish bacalhau..." (something like 'he doesn't have chicha or lemon') or "Ficar em agua de bacalhau …” (similar to 'he stayed in borage water').
One of the paintings in the Centro Interpretativo da História do Bacalhau, Lisbon.
The tour ends taking into account the current moment, in which cod fishing is much more controlled, because we have finally realized that the resources of the sea are not unlimited. And making the visitor think about the repercussion that climate change is having on the behavior of some species, including the Gadus morhua, also known as common cod, Atlantic cod or Norway cod.
Address: Terreiro do Paço, Torreão Nascente, 1100-148 Lisbon See map
Telephone: (+351) 218 877 395
Half price: €4