Issue:
January
2012

Story and photoby by Manos Angelakis

 SISAB2011

My recent trip to Portugal to visit SISAB2011, a major agro and alimentary products fair for exports, renewed my interest in the better Portuguese winemakers (see story at the Oeno File). During the trip, I visited some of the wineries near Lisbon and during the trade fair I tasted numerous brands from other areas in Portugal destined for export. A sun-drenched maritime climate influenced by the Atlantic on the West and the Mediterranean in the East and a terroir that includes soil composed of sand, clay, lime and decomposed granite and sand stone, support both indigenous and international vines that create highly regarded monovarietal wines and lively blends.

But SISAB is not only about wines.

Wandering about the hall’s passageways one could see and taste many other export products that included cheeses; hams and assorted charcuterie; dried or canned fish; fresh or flash frozen wild caught or farmed fish; fresh fruits and vegetables; flowers, honey and many other high quality agro-products – there were about 2000 exhibitors at the fair this year.

What was impressive is that most of the producers, especially the members of the Portuguese fishing industry, are very sensitive to sustainability and environmental friendliness.

For example, there is a major fishing fleet going out from the Azores to the Azores Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Instead of the massive nets used in other countries, these fishermen employ very traditional hook and line systems, deepwater or bottom long lines or even poles and line to make their catch. Seabream, Bigeye Tuna, Squid and Cuttlefish, Bigmouth Rockfish, Alfonsino, Pargo, Conger Eel, Swordfish, Grouper, Amberjack, Red Mullet and other species are caught every day, weather permitting, and with a very sophisticated air freight and logistics system are dispatched to markets where they arrive extremely fast, so they can be sold as fresh as possible to the consumer. (www.lotacor.pt)

Other producers will either ship fish fresh-on-ice, or flash freeze in airtight plastic pouches. And there is a great variety of sea-food available. Fresh bacalhao (Codfish), snapper, large and small sardines, small to very large octopus, clams and mussels, shrimp – from cocktail sized to supper colossal, cod or shad roe, assorted fish fillets; all these sea catches are available from the Atlantic coast and the islands.
(www.filmar.pt) (www.guimarpeixe.com.pt)

And vegetables can be also be shipped fresh in crates or frozen in apportioned, airtight plastic pouches.

While I was wandering through the stands I saw a booth that was exhibiting fresh fruit. One of the products was strawberries in 1 or 2 lb. plastic boxes bearing a well known US brand. I’m very familiar with this brand, as it is normally available in most area supermarkets where I live. Yet, when I tasted the product, there was absolutely no comparison with what this brand passes as fresh strawberries in the States. While the Portuguese fruit which is exported to Central Europe, was slightly smaller than what is sold in the States, it was very aromatic and sweet, with a true strawberry flavor; the product in the States is large and looks beautifully red, yet has no aroma, minimal sweetness and tastes like cardboard. I asked the producer’s VP of sales that was manning the booth, how do they achieve that good-looking, good-tasting fruit. He said that the US product is picked early and ripened artificially while en route to the market, while they pick their product when ripe and dispatch it chilled to be sold within 24 to 48 hours.

There was a booth with excellent honey. From apiaries on Serra de Malcata, Serra do Estrela, Beira Litoral and the Algarve honey is packaged in different tastes and aromas in different-sized glass jars. I’m very fond of Attica (Greece) honey with its thyme aroma. The aromatics of the Serra de Malcata honey are derived from wild lavender, heather, or orange blossoms. I thought that the wild lavender was the most distinct of the honey-products available. The colors, based on the variety of honey in the jar, ranged from pale yellow to very dark amber. (www.seramel.com)  

Cured ham, dried and smoked sausage and other charcuterie including the famous black-footed Iberico hams were proudly presented by numerous producers. Many of these producers export to countries that also create their own famous charcuterie, such as France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany in addition to other markets, especially the old Portuguese colonies in Africa and Asia.
 (www.apireslourenco.pt)

Finally, one wine product that is normally quite rare and is mostly consumed very locally: White Port. I was lucky enough to visit the C. da Silva, Dalva stand when they still had a bottle of the 1963 white port special reserve aged in casks till 2010. I though I died and went to heaven! A great, complex, dark amber colored sweet port, smooth and aromatic, nutty, with lemon and peach marmalade nose; rich, elegant, creamy textured with a long finish and great legs. There are less than 1500 bottles left in the producer’s warehouse. There is also a 1952 version, the year when they began these special reserves, but there are less than 500 bottles. Their usual White Port product is non-vintage 10-years old reservas and 20-years old reservas, both sweet and aromatic but nowhere as complex and enticing as the vintage-dated colheitas.

 

 

 

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