Luísa Marques

On the first floor of the Municipal Market of Peniche, Luísa Marques’ stand is a mandatory stop for all lovers of one of the most typical products of the area: dried fish. What kind of fish? It depends. But there is usually a variety of choice: stingray, conger, blackbelly rosefish, blackmouth catshark, physis, sandy dogfish or smoothhound, among others. Luisa is drying what she does not sell fresh, in a technique that she learned as a child with her grandmother, who also sold in the market. Word to who knows: "First arrange the fish, then wash it twice. Then salt it - the amount of salt depends on the thickness of the fish - and finally dry. It takes 3 or 4 days if it is sunny and windy." Luisa's fish dries in the street, if the weather allows it, otherwise it is stored indoors waiting for the ideal conditions. When the weather is on, it is still possible to find her selling the fish in the historic center of the village, an increasingly rare tradition in Peniche. The way it is made, she says, depends on the taste of the customer: "Most eat it boiled or grilled. But there are also those who prefer it stewed."
To whoever asks gently, she gives away her recipes.