A Portuguese Love

Lamprey is not fish and has a cartilaginous skeleton. Local fishermen tie the lamprey by the head and pour it in and out of boiling water several times to kill it. Then they scrub the skin up and down with the help of a hard cloth to remove dirt and keep the skin intact. They remove a nerve in the head and make an incision in the animal’s belly. From there they make several cuts in the tail’s direction along the surface of the lamprey’s body. This will help to reach and remove the intestine and bill through the first incision. This is a delicate operation. The flesh will taste bitter and the dish will be spoiled if they don’t remove it intact. They keep the blood that drains to a recipient. The blood will be used to prepare this famous dish. They pour a glass of wine or vinegar into the recipient so the blood does not coagulate. This dish is typical from Baixo Mondego region-lampreys to go up this river that meets the sea at Figueira da Foz. Rice production takes place in Baixo Monde...

Every Summer we watch this happen we know it will not be the last time. But yesterday, Mata Nacional de Fôja, between Santo Amaro da Boiça and Santana, was on fire. This is 10 minutes from where I live. Santana is just a few kilometers from Figueira da Foz. In the afternoon the sky got dark with the smoke. I could see it from my window. The air smelled of smoke and burning wood. The sun disappeared in the heavy brownish-colored clouds of smoke. We're experiencing high temperatures and strong winds. This is the result. 130 firemen, 38 vehicles, and plain dealing with hell. I don't know what set these fire hoods. Very sad. Photos were taken by Tiago Cação and there are more of them in his Facebook Album. This young man was moved by what he found." Se o inferno existe, é bem próximo daquilo que eu estava a assistir", he wrote. If hell exists, it must be close to what I'm watching.