Tag Archives: Portuguese fishermen
A fish that sparked a national obsession
Bacalhau (salt cod) is a deep part of Portugal’s culinary identity. But for a fish that is found only in the icy depths of the North Atlantic Ocean, far from Portugal’s shores, the country’s love affair with salt cod is a puzzling one. How exactly did it end up on Portuguese plates? The answer is wrapped up in more than 500 years of intriguing history. In the mid-1500s, during Portugal’s maritime explorations and hunt to find the coast of India, they stumbled across waters rich with cod around Canada and Greenland; a major discovery that kickstarted Portuguese cod fishing. But by the 16th Century, Portuguese fishermen were pushed out by the French and English. >click to read< 18:14
Portuguese fishermen helped launch Georgia shrimp industry
Wild Georgia Shrimp had it pretty good around here until the likes of John Martin and Joe Santos arrived on our shores following World War I. These two men were among the early wave of Portuguese refugees who crossed the Atlantic Ocean early in the 20th Century, only to chart a course right back into the sea to reap its bounty. Suddenly, our local shrimp began showing up in large numbers on menus and dinner tables from here to New York City. By the 1930s, the public’s newfound taste for these crustaceans had filled the docks along Brunswick’s East River with shrimp boats, all of them captained and crewed by stout-hearted Old World mariners. Those vessels would include the seven trawlers Joe Santos and partner John Mendes owned jointly in the Union Shrimp Company. >click to read<12:49
