Have you ever wondered why King D. Pedro was known as “the cruel”? This King, who became famous in the History of Portugal for having the heart ripped out of the men who murdered his lover Inês de Castro (see my blog: post of 10 August 2020) and for demanding that they kiss her corpse while she was sitting on the throne, used to make justice by your own hands, all over the country.
D. Pedro I traveled frequently in Portugal and liked to hear the stories and complaints of those who had been wronged and, instead of going to court, he was the one who handed down the sentences and often practiced them. There are several stories of justice attributed to him.
In Santarém lived a rich farmer with whom the king got along. One day, being in that city and as he did not see the man, he asked about him and found that his son had stabbed him, leaving a scar on his face. The king then ordered him to be called and asked him to tell how things had gone.
The farmer narrated the discussion he had with his son and the aggression he had been the victim, in the presence of the woman. “Send your wife and your son to me here,” ordered the monarch. When the woman arrived, she asked him: “Listen, whose son is it?” She stammered, “My husband’s and mine, sir.” The king stroked his beard. “Hum !, I don’t believe it. If your husband had been the real father, he wouldn’t have shot you that way. ”
The farmer eventually admitted that the boy was the son of a confessing friar who would have raped her. The next day, D. Pedro went to hear mass in the church where the violation had occurred. The ceremony concluded, he looked for the religious.
After a short exchange of words, the king ordered the rapist to be boxed and sawed in half. As the king was not an illusionist of those who were women without being pinched, the bastard died a horrible death.
The episode of the Bishop of Porto is still well remembered. D. Pedro was told, without evidence, that the prelate had intimate relations with a married woman. It was enough for him to enter the episcopal palace and, taking the whip, punish him. Another time, when he learned that a woman was cheating on her husband, he sentenced her to death. And the deceived begged on his knees for the forgiveness of his wife, whom he certainly loved.
But there is a less known aspect of D. Pedro I’s life. Chronicler Fernão Lopes narrates that the sovereign had an overwhelming passion … for his squire Afonso Madeira, whom he “loved more than one should say here”.
As he had an affair with one Catarina Tosse, the king, furious, “ordered him to cut off those members that the men in greatest esteem have, so that there was no flesh left to the bone that everything was not cut”. Poor Afonso, according to Lopes, was treated, “he healed, he thickened his legs and body and lived a few years with a face and no beard and died after his natural death”.
Today we are going to talk about a delicious Portuguese snack and with a very original story: Os peixinhos da horta
In the 16th century, more specifically in 1543, a Chinese ship with three Portuguese sailors on board, António da Mota, Francisco Zeimoto and António Peixoto, was going to Macau. The meteorological situation, translated into a storm, wanted the ship to move away to the island of southern Japan, Tanegashima. The sailors were the first Europeans to set foot on Japanese soil.
The country was facing a civil war and began to trade with the Portuguese.
In this way, a post was created in the country, where arms, tobacco, soap, wool… and recipes were sold!
In 1639, when our ancestors were banished from Japan, they left an indelible mark on the local cuisine, a recipe for green beans, wrapped in purée and then fried, “our fish from the garden” A preparation that, in the long oceanic crossings, allowed navigators to conserve vegetables for longer periods.
And the thing caught on in Japan, so much so that today it is called tempura.
The term “tempura” originates from the Latin “tempora”, which referred to a period of fasting imposed by the Church.
Catholics were not allowed to eat meat and so the dish came.
By the time “our peixinhos” entered in Japan, they already had a career made in Portuguese territory. However, the origin of this deep-roasted snack in the region of Estremadura, which is simple in confection, is not known, which is an example of creative cuisine based on few ingredients.
A preparation that would replace the fish in periods of dietary restrictions and that will have gone to mint the name precisely to the format similar to that of marine species.
Peixinho da Horta is a dish that serves both as a snack and as a meal.
Basically it is tender green beans fried in a batter, we can make it very crispy and thin or we can make fish from the garden with spoonfuls of batter as if it were a patanisca.
Recipe
Ingredients
400g of green beans
150g of flour with yeast
2 eggs
1 dl of cold sparkling water
1 c. Of olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper q. B
Frying oil
Preparation
Clean the green beans, remove the wire and cook it in water seasoned with salt for 5 minutes.
Then drain and let cool.
Prepare the batter.
Pour the flour into a bowl, season with salt and pepper, add the eggs, the oil and the water in a wire, stirring constantly until it is a smooth purée.
Bring to a boil a pan with plenty of oil and let it warm up.
Dip the green beans, one by one, in the batter, let it drain a little, pour in the oil and let it fry until golden brown.
Remove and let drain.
The Trays Festival is held every four years in early July. It has origins in the Cult of the Holy Spirit, which began in the 16th century, but we can see in it traces of earlier harvest festivals, such as in the profusion of flowers and the fact that bread and ears of wheat are present on the trays.
The Procession, which is the high point of the festivities, takes place alongside a wealth of cultural and recreational events, the most important of which are the Boy’s Procession, the “Mordomos’s” Procession, the decorating of the popular streets, the popular games, the Partial Processions, the popular parties and the “Pêza”.
The Festival starts on Easter Sunday when the Crowns and Standards representing all the parishes are brought out in a processionenlivened by pipers, drummers, firework launchers and bands. From this point on, this is repeated seven times but with the Crowns and Standards of the town and just a few on the parishes each time. As children are not allowed to take part in the big procession, the Boy’s procession was created so that the children could have their own festival. The Boy’s procession is an exact copy of the adults one but it in held on the previous Sunday. Children from Nursery and Primary school take part.
On the Friday before the Main Procession there is the “Mordomo’s” Procession, simbolising the entrance into the town of the sacrificial oxen, which, in the past, would have been slaughtered, and the meat distributed to the poor. In the past this procession was called the Procession of the Holy Spirit; today it is an impressive procession of carts and people on horseback with pairs of oxen at the head.
The streets of the historic centre are closed to traffic and decorated with millions of hand made paper flowers, which represent months of intense but enthusiastic work.
On the morning of the Saturday before the Main Procession, the Partial Processions come from the parishes; hundreds of Trays that will be paraded the next day. That afternoon, the traditional popular games are held in the Municipal Stadium (races with jars and barrels, tugs of war, climbing the greasy pole, quoits).
On the Sunday, the Procession of Trays starts with the pipers and drummers. Next come the Standard of the Holy Spirit and the three Crowns of the Emperors and Kings. After that come the Standards and Crowns of all the parishes.
The Procession is an immense weaving train of colour and music, made up for hundreds of pairs: the girls in white, with a broad ribbon tied across their front, carrying the tray on their heads; the boys in white shirts with sleesves rolled up, black trousers, a berent on their shoulder and a tie that matches the colour of the girl’s ribbon.
The triumphal carts of breads, meat and wine, pulled by the symbolic sacrificial oxen, bring up the rear of the procession.
The Trays the symbol and main decorative feature of the Festival of Trays. It should be the same height as the girl who carries it. It is decorated with paper flowers, greenery and ears of wheat. It also made up with 30 bread rools of a special size, each wighing 400 grams, threaded onto 5 or 6 canes. The later emerge from a wicker basket, wich is wrapped in a white embroidered cloth, and on top it isfinished off with Cross of Christ or a Dove of the Holy Spirit, the girl’s outfit consists of a long, white dress with a coloured ribbon across the front; the boy’s one is a simple, white shirt with sleeves rolled up, dark trousers, black beret on the shoulder and a tie the same colour as the girl’s ribbon.
On the base a white sheet symbol of purity
30 loaves represented by the 30 pieces of Judas
Flowers that represent fertility and harvest (now in paper)
On the top, the cross of Christ or the dove symbol of the Holy Spirit
Only the girls can bring the Tray on the head and if the boy wants help her, can bring the Tray but on his shoulder
The production of products in black clay, produced in the village of Bisalhães, in the municipality of Vila Real, is an ancestral process that involves cooking the pieces made by potters in open ovens in the earth.
The Bisalhães black clay manufacturing process, in Vila Real, was inscribed on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage that needs urgent safeguarding by UNESCO.
The inclusion in the Unesco list will also “motivate the implementation of a wide-ranging safeguard plan that the municipality of Vila Real idealized, ranging from the training of potters, through the certification of the process and even the encouragement of the emergence of new uses and designs for this unique material “.
The main problem with this activity is the aging of potters. Currently, there are five who make this art their main activity and most are over 75 years old. This is considered a tough, demanding job, using processes that date back to at least the 16th century.
It is, in fact, a lengthy job that goes through different stages, from storing and separating the clay in the ‘granary’, when chopping it, sifting it to the ‘trough’, where it is mixed with water, until the “ peis ”, kept in humid places and then used by potters who must still soften them and remove excess air. This is how the ‘embolized’ is achieved, expertly placed in the center of the low wheel, at the pace intended by the potter, who gives birth to the pieces we admire so much.
Then, they are placed in the air to dry, so that women can ‘gogar’ (decorate), using small stones, drawing flowers, leaves and lines, or other motifs, whose taste or inspiration of the moment, they can represent.
This is followed by cooking, one of the main steps in the process, perhaps the one that most characterizes Bisalhães Pottery, as it is during the same period, in open ovens on earth, that the dishes acquire the characteristic black color.
After this hard mission, they are removed and cooled, one by one, small, small, medium and large wonders that, with skill and knowledge, are cleaned of dust, with careful pieces of rags. Then, they are placed in baskets, by the women, who tirelessly help in this whole process, transporting them to their homes, in order to prepare them for the sales stalls, reaching us two fantastic types of crockery: the so-called ‘Churra crockery ‘(utilitarian), oven bowls, baking dishes, cutlery, and the’ Fina ‘(decorative) crockery, secret jars, donut jars, plates, etc.
Despite all these initiatives, are there only 5 potters left? How to keep this art alive and how to attract new artisans to this art?
Over decades, the transmission of knowledge to the new generations (either within the village families or in the fruitless training courses carried out), has not been safeguarded by the local community. This is a reality that prevents new artisans from coming into this art.
The hard work of the process of making Louça Preta de Bisalhães (transportation, collection of raw materials, preparation of pieces, cooking and sale process), the traditional division of tasks, with the intervention of women, the little social valorization of this art, leading family production units, mainly the younger generations, to emigrate, looking for new ways of life, the progressive replacement of pieces of black clay by other objects of industrial manufacture, are also some of the great reasons for the abandonment in the production of Bisalhães crockery. The hope comes from two young and promising potters who, with their perseverance, have given continuity to all this knowledge and in which, despite different vicissitudes, we maintain the desire to project what we all intend, the continuity of the Bisalhães Pottery.
Brites de Almeida, the baker of Aljubarrota, was a legendary figure and Portuguese heroine, whose name has been associated with the victory of the Portuguese, against Castilian forces, in the battle of Aljubarrota (1385). With her baker’s shovel, she would have killed seven Castilians she had found hidden in an oven.
Brites de Almeida was said to have been born in Faro, in 1350, to poor and humble parents, who owned a small tavern.
Legend has it that since she was a little girl, Brites revealed herself to be a burly, bony and ugly woman, with a hooked nose, a very ripped mouth and curly hair. She would have six fingers in her hands, which would have cheered the parents, as they thought they would have a very hard-working future woman at home. However, this would not have happened, as Brites would have embittered the lives of his parents, who would die early.
At the age of 26 she was already an orphan, a fact that is said not to have afflicted her very much. She sold the meager possessions she owned, resolving to lead an errant life, negotiating from fair to fair. There are many adventures that she supposedly lived, from the death of a suitor on the edge of her own sword, to the flight to Spain on board a boat assaulted by pirates who sold her as a slave to a powerful man from Mauritania.
She would end up, amidst a legendary little virtuous and confused life, by settling in Aljubarrota, where she would become a bakery owner and take a more honest life. She would find herself in this village when the battle between Portuguese and Castilians took place.
Defeated the Castilians, seven of them fled the battlefield to live nearby. They found shelter at Brites’ house, which was empty because Brites would have gone out. When Brites returned, having found the door closed, she soon became suspicious of the presence of enemies and entered bustling in search of Castilians. She would have found the seven men in her oven, hiding. Summoning them to leave and surrender, and seeing that they did not respond because they pretended to sleep or did not understand, she hit them with her shovel, killing them.
It is also said that, after the event, Brites would have gathered a group of women and formed a kind of militia that pursued the enemies, killing them without mercy.
When you’re in Portugal, don’t forget to try traditional snacks. It is eaten by hand, with a fork or spoon, bread on the side and a glass served. Preferably a very cold beer.
And please don’t call them tapas – a Spanish expression, not a Portuguese one. The Portuguese are very proud of their petiscos, because the food is about people – the kind of experience that includes licking your fingers, refreshing your soul with beer, tasting wines and socializing until you say enough.
The Portuguese people are petiscos-lovers, there is nothing to do and whoever takes away this tradition that goes from one or two things to twenty, takes away the good mood. Enlightened Portuguese cooks know perfectly well how good the peixinhos da Horta, fried to perfection, make us happy. Two imperatives just for the Portuguese practice to be fulfilled: table and company. A sweeping flight through the amount that is put on the table, with our eyes on happy harmonies.
The list of snacks can be very long, but let’s try to meet the most famous.
-Caracóis – Lisbon’s snails are undoubtedly something to try in the summer. You will find doses of different sizes in various snack bars, small family restaurants and some cafes
– “Iscas” – pork liver sautéed with garlic and white wine, sometimes you find a version with onions. Usually served with chips or boiled potatoes.
-Fava beans – when the fava season comes, a bowl of this delicacy simply stew is enough to taste well. Whether cooked alone, or enriched with slices of chorizo and other meats, it is a delight.
-Peixinhos da Horta – a vegetarian snack, nothing less than breaded and fried green beans.
-Green eggs – boiled eggs, cut in half, stuffed, breaded and fried. The traditional recipe consists of yolk emulsified with olive oil, vinegar, spices and parsley.
-Sardines – starting in June is the ideal time to enjoy them. It is their time, as they became very fat and, consequently, tastier.
-Pasteis / codfish balls: The small fried codfish cake, made of varying proportions of potato and cod, combined with olive oil and beaten egg, are one of the great glories of Portuguese cuisine. These pastries are either eaten by hand or accompanied with rice. Hot, warm or cold don’t lose their identity.
-Ham: The national smokehouse is an institution and on a well-cut plate of ham we set the conversation and socializing for an entire afternoon.
-Torresmos: Usually made from portions of pork rich in fat and with the main purpose of extracting the fabulous lard that fortunately remains alive in the daily recipe. In no way does it threaten the equally fabulous extra virgin olive oil that we worship in the kitchen and at the table. The crunchy and compact pieces that are extracted are an unavoidable snack
– Cod fish pataniscas: Patanisca is called various preparations nowadays, but when we call it snack here it is the one that fries the thin pieces of cod in egg and batter gains firm structure and is eaten by hand.
-Guambas a guilho: Either we call them prawns al ajillo, like the Spanish, or simply prawns with garlic. We know that corruptions like “guilho” are nonsense that mean nothing and we must be indifferent to them, honoring this snack of fork and bread by celebrating when it comes in the still boiling oil, the aroma of garlic and coriander.
-Cured cheese: The smaller and drier, the cheese from Nisa and Évora slice well and thin, with the flavor concentrated by the slow evaporation of the retained water, while at the same time concentrating the salt. Serpa and Serra da Estrela ones also age very well and lend themselves to snacks for hours on end.
– Cold octopus salad: We like octopus in every way, but chopping the tentacle logs cooked to the point and well drizzled with olive oil is almost transcendental.
-Roasted rice black pudding: A delight that is practically an entire meal, it will have been born between Leiria and Santarém, but today it is a national snack, with the blood sausage of great tradition. It is baked in the oven
-Fried sausage (choriço): Fried sausages are made in clay pots, which drip and smell a little throughout the national territory. It is eaten by a toothpick and is always shared as soon as the fire is extinguished at the table. You need thick sliced wheat bread to impregnate yourself with the oil of the sausage.
-Pica Pau: The pica pau is a dish of very Portuguese origin composed of simple ingredients: fried pork – although it can also be made with beef – and pickles. It can also include olives and chillies. Originally from Ribatejo, the meat of this snack should have a soft texture. Snack is one of the specialties of many taverns in most of the country. Tastier in good company, do not dispense the bread to enjoy the sauce.
-Pregos and bifanas: Bifana is a typical dish originating in Vendas Novas. This snack includes pork stews cooked with garlic and wine. The meat must then be placed on warm bread. They can be seasoned with mustard or hot sauce. This is one of the dishes that are not lacking in popular festivals, particularly in summer, all over the country. The variants are many and can in some cases include cheese and ham or other complements. Similar, it is the prego with beef. Other typical Portuguese snack, like bifana, it is usually seasoned with mustard or hot sauce.
– Alheiras: Alheira or “Jewish chorizo” are the names for a sausage with a history of more than 500 years. Originating in Trás-os-Montes is a dish that the Portuguese eat at any time of the year as a snack or as a main dish. It is a classic of Portuguese gastronomy, in particular the Mirandela version.
– Pipis: “There are gizzards and pipis”. It is read on the doors and windows of dozens of taverns, cafes and restaurants in the capital and across the country. Pipis are bits of chicken stewed in a rich tomato, onion and garlic sauce.
Stewed gizzards: Stewed gizzards are a delicacy that is based on a small stew of onion and tomato to which are added chicken or duck gizzards.
And what is your favorite?
When you’re in Portugal, don’t forget to try traditional snacks. It is eaten by hand, with a fork or spoon, bread on the side and a glass served. Preferably a very cold beer.
And please don’t call them tapas – a Spanish expression, not a Portuguese one. The Portuguese are very proud of their petiscos, because the food is about people – the kind of experience that includes licking your fingers, refreshing your soul with beer, tasting wines and socializing until you say enough.
The Portuguese people are petiscos-lovers, there is nothing to do and whoever takes away this tradition that goes from one or two things to twenty, takes away the good mood. Enlightened Portuguese cooks know perfectly well how good the peixinhos da Horta, fried to perfection, make us happy. Two imperatives just for the Portuguese practice to be fulfilled: table and company. A sweeping flight through the amount that is put on the table, with our eyes on happy harmonies.
The list of snacks can be very long, but let’s try to meet the most famous.
-Caracóis – Lisbon’s snails are undoubtedly something to try in the summer. You will find doses of different sizes in various snack bars, small family restaurants and some cafes
– “Iscas” – pork liver sautéed with garlic and white wine, sometimes you find a version with onions. Usually served with chips or boiled potatoes.
-Fava beans – when the fava season comes, a bowl of this delicacy simply stew is enough to taste well. Whether cooked alone, or enriched with slices of chorizo and other meats, it is a delight.
-Peixinhos da Horta – a vegetarian snack, nothing less than breaded and fried green beans.
-Green eggs – boiled eggs, cut in half, stuffed, breaded and fried. The traditional recipe consists of yolk emulsified with olive oil, vinegar, spices and parsley.
-Sardines – starting in June is the ideal time to enjoy them. It is their time, as they became very fat and, consequently, tastier.
-Pasteis / codfish balls: The small fried codfish cake, made of varying proportions of potato and cod, combined with olive oil and beaten egg, are one of the great glories of Portuguese cuisine. These pastries are either eaten by hand or accompanied with rice. Hot, warm or cold don’t lose their identity.
-Ham: The national smokehouse is an institution and on a well-cut plate of ham we set the conversation and socializing for an entire afternoon.
-Torresmos: Usually made from portions of pork rich in fat and with the main purpose of extracting the fabulous lard that fortunately remains alive in the daily recipe. In no way does it threaten the equally fabulous extra virgin olive oil that we worship in the kitchen and at the table. The crunchy and compact pieces that are extracted are an unavoidable snack
– Cod fish pataniscas: Patanisca is called various preparations nowadays, but when we call it snack here it is the one that fries the thin pieces of cod in egg and batter gains firm structure and is eaten by hand.
-Guambas a guilho: Either we call them prawns al ajillo, like the Spanish, or simply prawns with garlic. We know that corruptions like “guilho” are nonsense that mean nothing and we must be indifferent to them, honoring this snack of fork and bread by celebrating when it comes in the still boiling oil, the aroma of garlic and coriander.
-Cured cheese: The smaller and drier, the cheese from Nisa and Évora slice well and thin, with the flavor concentrated by the slow evaporation of the retained water, while at the same time concentrating the salt. Serpa and Serra da Estrela ones also age very well and lend themselves to snacks for hours on end.
– Cold octopus salad: We like octopus in every way, but chopping the tentacle logs cooked to the point and well drizzled with olive oil is almost transcendental.
-Roasted rice black pudding: A delight that is practically an entire meal, it will have been born between Leiria and Santarém, but today it is a national snack, with the blood sausage of great tradition. It is baked in the oven
-Fried sausage (choriço): Fried sausages are made in clay pots, which drip and smell a little throughout the national territory. It is eaten by a toothpick and is always shared as soon as the fire is extinguished at the table. You need thick sliced wheat bread to impregnate yourself with the oil of the sausage.
-Pica Pau: The pica pau is a dish of very Portuguese origin composed of simple ingredients: fried pork – although it can also be made with beef – and pickles. It can also include olives and chillies. Originally from Ribatejo, the meat of this snack should have a soft texture. Snack is one of the specialties of many taverns in most of the country. Tastier in good company, do not dispense the bread to enjoy the sauce.
-Pregos and bifanas: Bifana is a typical dish originating in Vendas Novas. This snack includes pork stews cooked with garlic and wine. The meat must then be placed on warm bread. They can be seasoned with mustard or hot sauce. This is one of the dishes that are not lacking in popular festivals, particularly in summer, all over the country. The variants are many and can in some cases include cheese and ham or other complements. Similar, it is the prego with beef. Other typical Portuguese snack, like bifana, it is usually seasoned with mustard or hot sauce.
– Alheiras: Alheira or “Jewish chorizo” are the names for a sausage with a history of more than 500 years. Originating in Trás-os-Montes is a dish that the Portuguese eat at any time of the year as a snack or as a main dish. It is a classic of Portuguese gastronomy, in particular the Mirandela version.
– Pipis: “There are gizzards and pipis”. It is read on the doors and windows of dozens of taverns, cafes and restaurants in the capital and across the country. Pipis are bits of chicken stewed in a rich tomato, onion and garlic sauce.
Stewed gizzards: Stewed gizzards are a delicacy that is based on a small stew of onion and tomato to which are added chicken or duck gizzards.
And what is your favorite?
In the century. XVI, lived in Cinco Vilas a man named Bartolomeu, better known as Fidalgo das Cinco Vilas. One day he met D. Guiomar, lady of an important Pinhel family and they decided to get married, having chosen the 8th of December, the birth date of the two newlyweds. A year later, a son was born to him that they baptized with the name of Luís.
When the baby was 7 years old, the father decided to leave for India, in search of fame and wealth, joining the armada of D. Afonso de Albuquerque. In the great campaign, which the Viceroy developed in lands of the East, the Fidalgo de Cinco Vilas distinguished himself in heroism, to the point of becoming one of the main nobles of the army of D. Afonso de Albuquerque.
Meanwhile, D. Guiomar took pains to educate his son, providing him with the best teachers who instructed him in the art of fencing, riding and letters. When little Luis easily mastered the teachings taught, the mother set him up as a knight, but she felt sad that her husband was not present at this important time in his son’s life.
The news that Luís had been made a knight, revived in D. Bartolomeu the longing for the family that began to torment him. After making the necessary preparations, he decided to return to Portugal. However, on the trip, he was attacked by fever, dying without having the happiness of seeing his loved ones for the last time. The widow, inconsolable, dressed in heavy mourning for her whole life, dedicating herself entirely to her son.
Meanwhile, in Spain the expulsion of the Jews was decreed. Many sought in Portugal the refuge they needed, Castelo Rodrigo being one of the five regions destined by our king to settle. Among the many refugees who came to this region, there was one named Zacuto, very rich, who bought the top of the mountain, west of Castelo Rodrigo, and the entire slope to the Côa river.
At the top of the mountain, the Jew had a house built where he started to live and, a little further down, a dairy, dedicated to the production of calves. In a slightly more remote area, he dedicated part of the land to the cultivation of fodder, cereals and other agricultural products, having olive trees repaired, planting vines and installing a large flock of sheep and goats. Zacuto was a widower and was accompanied by his only daughter, Ofa, who made heir to all the goods acquired in the land that had hosted them. For this reason, they began to call those lands, Serra da Moura (moor) Ofa.
The good administration that Zacuto dedicated to the lands and herds, quickly increased his fortune. Luís, who lived just a few kilometers from the place, learned about the event, and felt a desire to meet the beautiful Jewess, heiress of such a large fortune.
When they met, the two young men were immediately attracted to each other, and a burning desire to join their lives was born among them. When the new Fidalgo de Cinco Vilas told his mother about the passion that set his heart on fire, the lady felt very sad, because there was a great barrier to realizing the dream of her beloved son, since the two young people had religion different.
Shortly thereafter, the king of Portugal, D. Manuel I, ordered the expulsion from the kingdom of all Jews who did not convert to Christianity. Much to Louis’ delight, the old Jew and his daughter accepted the royal decision. The nobleman ran over to his mother to tell him the great news. The lady authorized him to go to Zacuto and ask for Ofa’s hand in marriage.
Whenever his mother or friends asked him where he was going, Fidalgo de Cinco Vilas filled his chest with joy and replied: “I am going to love Ofa”, or “I am going to see my love Ofa”. ( Vou amar a Ofa)
Some time later, on 8 December, the marriage bond took place at the Monastery of Santa Maria de Aguiar. From this marriage many children were born who became heirs to many lands in and beyond Côa.
Tradition says that the mountain came to be known as Serra da Marofa in the innocent imitation of Luís’s answer, when he said that “he was going to love Ofa“.
The Historical Village of Castelo Rodrigo preserves, until today, several references that take us back to medieval times. Traces are also found that attest to the presence of an important community of new Christians (Jews forced to convert)
From the top of a hill, the small village of Castelo Rodrigo dominates the plateau that extends to Spain, in the east, up to the deep Douro valley, in the north. According to tradition, Afonso IX de Leão founded it, to donate it to Count Rodrigo Gonzalez de Girón, who repopulated it and gave it its name. With the Alcanices Treaty, signed in 1297 by King D. Dinis, which defined the borders between Spain and Portugal, it passed to the Portuguese crown.
Castelo Rodrigo preserves the marks of some episodes of territorial dispute. The first took place less than a hundred years after its integration in Portugal, during the dynastic crisis of 1383-1385. D. Beatriz, the only daughter of D. Fernando de Portugal, was married to the king of Castile. Upon the death of his father, and with his accession to the throne, Portugal would lose its independence in favor of Castile. Castelo Rodrigo sided with D. Beatriz, but D. João, Mestre de Avis came to win the Castilians at the Battle of Aljubarrota, in 1385 and for this feat he was crowned king of Portugal with the name of D. João I. As a reprisal for the lords of Castelo Rodrigo having taken sides with Castile, the new king ordered that the shield and arms of Portugal be represented in an inverted position on his coat of arms.
Later, XVI, when Filipe II of Spain annexed the Portuguese Crown, Governor Cristóvão de Mora became defender of the cause of Castile, coming to suffer the revenge of the population that set fire to the huge palace on December 10, 1640 as soon as news arrived there of the Restoration (occurred on the 1st of December), leaving this ancient history the ruins at the top of the hill, next to the castle.
Place of passage for pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela, the legends tell that St. Francis of Assisi himself would have spent the night here on his pilgrimage to the tomb of the Saint.
Being on the pilgrim route to Compostela, the Church of Nossa Senhora de Rocamador was built here, founded by a brotherhood of hospitable friars from France in the 13th century. With some changes of the 14th and 17th centuries, the coffered ceiling with baroque painting and a rococo altarpiece.
In this church is kept an image of Santiago Matamouro (Killer of the moors) and one of Saint Sebastian from the 14th century that, according to tradition, older and still unmarried women pray for luck in love.
The Figurado of Barcelos is an unavoidable art, constituting itself as one of the greatest traditional productions in Portugal, due to the relevance that work in clay has acquired over the centuries and its connection to people and the region.
This art was mainly concentrated in the north-eastern part of the city, which was richer in clay and water
Figurado is a certified production since 2008. This fact makes Barcelos the first municipality to certify this popular artistic expression, which is the identity root of a territory that sought to enhance and affirm its unique art.
Assorted figuration was the designation adopted for the statuary pieces of popular expression, produced in the pottery tradition region of the current municipality of Barcelos, where they fit from small pieces entirely modeled by hand, to pieces produced in small molds or through mixed techniques used in this production. This group also included pieces modeled by hand, without mold, such as pitas, harmonicas and some roosters. Pieces started in mold and finished by hand, such as musicians and oxen, belong to the same universe. In the same way, pieces produced from a base form, raised on the potter’s wheel and which were also finished by hand, such as wheel cocks, nightingales and bugles, are included in this group. With the same designation of figurative, the pieces produced in mold were still known, but with a naive or primitive finish.
The diversity of this production is born from the skilled hands of baristas who reproduce everything they see and feel. The themes on which this production is mirrored are, in turn, religion and festivals, bestiary, daily life, various figures and miniatures. In this context, it is important to highlight the most characteristic pieces within each theme. In the theme of religion and festivals, representations of Christs and Saints predominate, as well as religious practices. The world of the fantastic, represented by the bestiary presents monsters, devils and deformed figures that unite the sacred and the profane in the Figurado. Representations of scenes from rural life, crafts, professions and dolls dominate the range of Figurado pieces, showing the importance of everyday life as inspiration for this production. In the category of single figures, emblematic pieces appear, such as roosters, hedgehogs, doves, oxen and goats. Among others, the famous Rooster stands out (you can read my post on September 1, 2020 https://lisbon-a-love-affair.com/2020/09/01/the-rooster-of-barcelos-how-was -this-portuguese-symbol-born /)
As for the mode of production, modeling, molding and turning are the techniques used in the production of the Figurado de Barcelos, used alone or combined with each other, with modeling being the most important and most valued, since the personal intervention of the craftsman is totally or practically total.
Finally, considering the identity of the Figurado, it will be impossible not to mention one of the most charismatic names of this art: Rosa Ramalho, the figure that drew the attention through which this unique art spread in the most urban and elitist environment.
Rosa Ramalho learned to work with clay very early, but abandoned this art to dedicate herself to her family. It was when she was a widow, aged 68 and illiterate, that she began to produce the pieces that made her famous. Discovered in 1950 for the collector Alexandre Alves Costa during his research on popular art. His works are dramatic and creative and show great imagination at the same time.
The Figurado de Barcelos, certified artisanal product, is currently one of the largest artisan productions in the county. This production started as a subsidiary activity of pottery, in their spare time and using small portions of clay, small pieces were made for children to play, namely figures of people or animals where a whistle or musical instruments were placed at the base of them (ocarinas, nightingales, cuckoos, harmonicas, among others). The Figurado de Barcelos is distinguished from any other production, assuming unique characteristics, both in shapes and colors. If you want to watch the making of a figure, I leave this video here.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=KcAB8Df6s8U