For the Love of Tuna
Confraria de Atum
You may recall that when we bought the building that became our home we thought it had been owned by a tuna “association”. Our good friends thought we should call our home “Tuna Hall”. But alas, this was not to be.
Association or Union
The man we bought the building from suggested it was once owned by a “tuna association”, which we understood to mean a tuna fisherman’s union. But we consulted some former tuna fishermen and were told there was no such thing. Further research suggested that it was either a fisherman association or the former cannery worker’s union hall. At least that is what multiple sources have told us. We hope it was a union hall…we imagine rousing speeches being given from the stage that was dismantled to form our guest bath.
If you are wondering who the multiple sources are, you need to look no further than our neighbor. On most days, behind the doors pictured below, you find a bunch of old men hanging out. One spent over a dozen years living in Newark NJ and speaks perfect English.
The Confraria
If you look to the right of our house you will see this rather nondescript building with Confraria de Atum on the door. If you translate the Portuguese word “confraria” you find it means “brotherhood”. If you do further research you might learn it can also refer to a “fraternity”. Okay, the brotherhood or fraternity of tuna…não sei. That is until we invited other neighbors, the couple that owns the wine/linen shop on the corner, for drinks. Francisco and Ana were surprised by our invitation…they are Portuguese … they don’t expect strangers to invite them into their home. But they came anyway.1
During their visit, we learned they were both members of the Confraria de Atum…so the brotherhood includes women, and you don’t have to fish. Que fixe!2 In fact, they suggested we should join. To join we needed:
A sponsor … them,
Attend an event … any old event, and
Buy the official uniform … see below.3
We learned that the confraria was a big part of their social life. They had traveled to cities throughout Portugal visiting other confrarias, each celebrating another gastronomic treat.
I did some online research to learn more. It seems that food confrarias celebrate and promote regional cuisine and tradition. Originating in Europe, many started in Portugal, Spain, and Italy and endeavored to preserve culinary traditions.
While tuna fishing near VRSA dates back centuries, the Confraria de Atum started in the early 2000s.
A Weekend Dedicated to Tuna
Though the city advertised a weeklong celebration of tuna, most of the events occurred over the weekend. It was during this time that a band led a procession of over 800 confraria members to the Cultural Center. Our local Confaria de Atum has less than 80 members, so clearly, other confrarias were there in force. Kiosks also opened on the square offering regional specialities. Our friend Ana, a school teacher, took time to prepare tasty tuna treats and sold them over the weekend at her kiosk.
Above you’ll find Ana has prepared traditional croquettes but used tuna instead of cod. In the middle, you see a traditional appetizer of tuna muxama with goat cheese on crusty bread. (Tuna muxama dates back to the Phoenicians and Romans that first preserved tuna loins in salt before drying. Some describe it as tuna bacon.) On the right, she took liberties to make an appetizer that is typically made with meat with tuna instead. I asked if she would make that again, and she emphatically said, “Não!”
I suspect we won’t join the confraria…no one should be exposed to my halting Portuguese while eating, and as a vegetarian, my options are more limited. But there are several confrarias dedicated to wine. So,,,
Nunca se sabe…
Nanc
Of course, they also warned that they knew very little English. I tried for the first 15 minutes to speak Portuguese. But alas, we quickly realized that they knew a lot more English than I knew Portuguese and the rest of the 2 hours was spent conversing in English.
Cool!
I’m not sure they understood that I am a vegetarian.
We'll join the wine confraria! -CW
We learn several somethings new here daily!