Did you know that Portugal consumes 20% of all cod fish caught on earth?! Oddly, cod is not found in the waters surrounding Portugal but the fish is so popular that the Portuguese people have more cod recipes than there are days in a year! Portugal has long had a love affair with cod, especially salted cod. The fish is more than just good food to the Portuguese, it is a part of their culture and everyday life.
Cod air drying.
Cod was introduced to the Portuguese people by Viking nomads. The Vikings captured abundant amounts of cod in the cold seas off the Nordic countries and tried to preserve the fish by letting it dry in the open air. During the Middle Ages the Vikings began preserving their cod with salt, which they learned from the Romans and the Basque. The Vikings obtained salt from Portugal and traded for cod. The Portuguese had plenty of salt to sell and cod fish became a solid source of food amongst the Portuguese people. Meat was expensive in Portugal during these times and supplying fresh meats and fish to the interior of the country was a complicated task. Salted cod was an easy and inexpensive food alternative, easier to provide throughout Portugal and became a popular thing to eat.
Dried Salted Cod
In the mid-1500s a Portuguese expedition heading to India saw Newfoundland for the first time and Portuguese cod fishing began. The Portuguese fishermen were eventually driven away by the English and French corsairs that dominated the fishing activities in the region during these times.
Cod fishing was a hard and dangerous job. These fisherman led a life of sacrifice, as cod fishing was done the traditional way. Sailing from Belém, Lisbon, the cod fishing ships were luggers and sailing ships, which towed dories used for line fishing and had the capacity to carry between 900 and 950 tons of cod. The fishermen were forced to row away from the main ship, sometimes two or three miles, to manually fish with lines and hooks. Each man fished alone for hours until their small boat was full of cod. While fishing they encountered freezing winds, fog, strong waves and icebergs. Some didn’t make it back to the fishing ships and died at sea. If they did make it back to the ship they would then unload, scale and salt the catch making for even longer work days. After reaching land, the fish was washed to remove all the salt and dried until dehydrated. The codfish drying process took place outdoors in the Algarve, on the South Bank of the Tagus, in Setúbal, Figueira da Foz, Aveiro and Viana do Castelo.
On the 9th of July 1920, the Portuguese Fishing Company was founded by four small shipowners. They set up headquarters in the old facilities of the Lisbon Company Cotton Factory in Olho de Boi, Almada. To reduce foreign dependency and guarantee the country’s food supply, Antonio Salazar, Portugal’s leader at this time, centralized organized fishing activities, encouraged the creation of cooperatives and formed cartels that handled the supplies thus beginning the famous Codfish Campaign began in 1934.
During World War II, Portugal maintained its fishing activity. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, two cod fishing ships, ‘Maria de Gloria’ and ‘Delães’ were sunk by Nazi submarines. An agreement with the Allies would state that these Portuguese cod fishing ships be painted white to signal Portugal’s neutrality in the conflict and allow them to safely sail the Atlantic, thus becoming known as the ‘White Fleet’.
White Fleet at sea
In 1957, Portugal was already the largest salt codfish producer in the world and peaking. By this time, wheat and codfish were the commodities with the greatest impact on both the country’s diet and its trade balance.
The last three large cod fishing ships set sail for Newfoundland for the last time in 1974, coinciding with the fall of the dictatorship and the peaceful revolution of April 25th which brought democracy to the country.
The Portuguese still love codfish today and it is said they have 1001 ways of cooking it. Presently, 70% of codfish comes from Norway and the Portuguese are always taking sustainable consumption, climatic change and versatility into consideration.
SALT FACT: Portuguese salt (Flor de Sal) is internationally popular and is similar to French salt (Fluer de Sel). Portuguese salt is collected from evaporation pools of sea water like they do in Nicaragua. With an area of 360 hectares or just under 900 acres, the Samouco Salt Pans in Alcochete were the main source of salt farming near Lisbon.
Salt is natural and is found on earth. Salt tastes salty. Salt is used to preserve meats and stuff.
Beyond these basic statements most folks are at a loss to expand on the paths that salt and life have shared together over time. Science class was something many kids never took that seriously and a subject many educators simply skim over.
Chemically sodium chloride or salt is composed of 40% sodium and 60% chloride.
Salt is mentioned in the Bible multiple times. Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt. The word salt is also used metaphorically in the Bible to signify permanence, loyalty, durability, fidelity, usefulness, value, purification and more.
Historically, salt mining can be dated back to 6000 BC in the Romania/Bulgaria section of ancient Europe where people in Solnitsata (modern day Provadia) used to boil water to extract salts. Interestingly, Solnitsata is thought to be the earliest known settlement in Europe. Roughly the same timeline dates back to China’s use of salt as well.
We also know that Philip II of Macedon had a son named Alexander who studied with Aristotle and who toured the entire Greek, African and Middle Eastern empires quite extensively. In May 326 BC Alexander the Great and King Porus of Paurava met on opposite banks of the Jhelum River in Pakistan where they clashed. Alexander’s men crossed the river and subdued the army of King Porus and their 200 war elephants. It was recorded that Alexander’s Macedonian army losses numbered 1,000 of 41,000 men as the Indian army of King Porus lost 12,000 and had another 9,000 men captured out of an army of 50,000. A truce was agreed upon and Alexander let Porus remain king after Porus paid tributes. After the arduous battle, fatigue set into the combatants. Alexander’s men and horses found themselves tired and hungry. The horses began to lick the rocks on the side of the river. The riders noticed this behavior and examined the rocks to discover that there was a build up of pink Himalayan salt coating the rocks. The horses that did the licking and ingested this salt recovered faster and were in better shape the next day then the horses who didn’t lick the salt. This healing intrigued the riders of Alexander’s army who came to discover that near this area reside the salt mines of Khewra, which happens to be the second largest salt deposit in the world.
There is an ancient 242 km (150 miles) long road in Italy called Via Salaria which is named after the Latin word for salt. Via Salaria runs from Rome, headed east across the country to the Adriatic Sea, ending at a place formerly called Castrum Truentinum, modernly known as Martinsicuro. 51 km (32 miles) of this old salt road are now Italy’s state highway SS4. Medieval records document salt trading opportunities in Venice, Italy which ultimately helped contribute to the cities economic rise.
Salt mines in Salzburg, Austria can date mining of this mineral back to 800 BC. By 400 BC the locals were doing open pan salt making.
The 10 largest salt mines in the world are:
Sifto Mine in Ontario, Canada
Khewra Mine in Pakistan – pink salt
Prahova Mine in Romania
Atacama in Chile where they get lithium and boron from the salt
Wieliczka in Poland
Palibelo Village in Indonesia
Danakil in Ethiopia
Maras in Peru
Asse in Germany
Salt Catherdal in Colombia
The salt flat in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia is the world’s largest (12 000 km²) and highest (3 700 m) salt flat. It is 25 times larger than the Bonneville Salt Flats in the US. This flat in Bolivia is what’s left of a prehistoric lake surrounded by mountains without any drainage outlets. The locals continue to harvest the salt in their traditional method, gathering the substance into small mounds to evaporate, additional drying over fire and enrichment with iodine.
It is said that the word salary is derived from the Latin word Sal or salt. People often think of gold as something very valuable and interchangeable with money. In the past, salt was extremely valuable as well. Salt was such a valued commodity that it said to have been used to pay Roman soldiers in lieu of coins, hence the word salary.
The impact of salt on society is incredible. Salt has helped create and destroy empires. Salt has also played a prominent role in determining the rise of some of the world’s great cities. Various sites eventually sprung up along the salt roads exacting heavy duties and taxes for the salt passing through their territories. This practice eventually caused the formation of cities, like Munich in 1158, when the then Duke of Bavaria, Henry the Lion, decided that the bishops of Freising no longer needed their salt revenue and set up shop in the Munich area. A ‘gabelle’, the word for a hated French salt tax, was enacted in 1286 and maintained until 1790. Because of these salt taxes, common salt was of such a valuable commodity that it caused population shifts and attracted invaders. Gabelle tax was cited on the list of issues prompting the French Revolution. The salt mines of Poland led to a vast kingdom in the 16th century. Liverpool rose from just a small English port to become the prime exporting site for salt dug from the mines of Cheshire and became the source for much of the world’s salt supply in the 1800’s.
In 1777, the British Lord Howe was jubilant when he succeeded in capturing General George Washington’s salt supply.
Founding Fathers of America used the phrase ‘worth your salt’ meaning ‘worth your work value for the salary earned’. Expressions like ‘worth one’s while’ and ‘worth one’s weight in gold’ are much older than ‘worth one’s salt’, yet the idea and history for these phrases are similar.
“Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.” Andrew Jackson
“No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.” Theodore Roosevelt
Modern Dietary Guidelines recommend adults limit sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg per day—that’s equal to about 1 teaspoon of table salt. Scientifically there are a bunch of types of salt: Table, Kosher, Himalayan pink, Sea salt, Celtic Grey, Fleur De Sal, Flake salt, Red Hawaiian, Black Hawaiian, Smoked, Himalayan Black and Pickling Salt. These salts are defined by colors, textures and the regions they are discovered in. The earliest recorded study published in China around 2700 BC mentions more than 40 types of salt and provides descriptions of two methods of salt extraction that are similar to the processes used today.
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Some examples of salt types follow:
Table salt: Qualities: Classic standard. May contain anti-caking additives to avoid clumping in humidity Pros: Inexpensive. Contains iodine. Cons: Typically contains the highest sodium content of all salts.
Sea salt: Qualities: Coarser texture extracted from ocean water around the world Pros: Naturally contains iodine although some claim low levels. Cons: May contain impurities. (metals or plastics)
Kosher salt: Qualities: Coarse, flaky texture. Pros: Need Kosher? Cons: May not contain iodine.
Himalayan salt: Qualities: It’s pink color comes from iron oxide which is a compound found in rust. Pros: It’s pretty and Barbie would twerk for it. Cons: Not usually iodized.
Here are some fun and interesting facts about salt:
Only 6% of the salt that we use in the US is used as food. Salt is used for many other reasons. 17% of American salt is used for keeping ice off of the roads in winter for safer driving.
If you soak older, wrinkled apples in a mixture of salt and water, the wrinkles will go away.
Salt (sodium chloride) It is the only family of rocks regularly eaten by people.
Mixing salt in with the water of cut flowers in a vase will help the flowers live longer.
If you rub salt on your griddle, your pancakes will not stick.
Every cell of your body contains salt.
Adding a little salt to your boiling water when boiling eggs will help prevent the egg from cracking. Salt also stops the egg from coming out of the shell if it does crack.
You can test the freshness of eggs in a cup of salt water. Fresh eggs will sink and bad eggs will float.
Sprinkling salt in your pantry helps to keep ants away.
Your body needs 200 mg of salt per day to be healthy.
You can sprinkle salt between bricks or rocks where you don’t want grass to grow.
Ice water gets colder when salt is added.
Salt is usually the first thing to take the blame for a dish that doesn’t taste so great.
The dictionary describes a salty person as “an angry and ill tempered individual.” Salty describes a personality that is bitter, angry, irritated and/or hard to take.
Salt deposits have been reportedly discovered on Mars.
At the end of the day, salt is salt. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that any type of natural salt is healthier than any other type of natural salt. Salt substitutes are another story and should probably be avoided but that’s not what we’re currently talking about here. Keep in mind that, unless you eat fish regularly, iodine is somewhat elusive in most people’s diets. Choosing an iodized salt can be a healthy choice if used wisely.
