Fresh fish is everything!

Does it surprise you that Portugal is so big on fishing with such a lovely coastline to catch fish from? Portugal, according to Our World In Data, is the world's sixth greatest fish consumer, devouring over 57kg per inhabitant per year.

Fresh fish is plentiful in Portugal, however the two most popular are sardines and cod. For ages, probably millennia, these two have been staples of the Portuguese cuisine. Sardines (sardinha) are caught all year, but they taste best in the months that do not begin with the letter 'r.' (so, May-August). The Portuguese traditionally eat whole grilled sardines with a slice of bread (the bones are soft enough to crunch through).

Meanwhile, salted fish (bacalhau) appears in a variety of recipes, from modest lunches to extravagant special occasion dinners. Bacalhau com todos, for example, is a traditional Christmas Eve dish that translates "salted cod with everything" in Portuguese.