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There were 17 restaurants that joined the Bacalhau Gastronomic Week, promoted by the Commercial, Industrial and Services Association of Bragança (ACISB), which took place during Holy Week.
The majority of adherents say that Bragança has already established itself as “a destination for eating good cod” and, in some cases, dishes based on this product represented 90% of sales throughout the week.
The establishments in the historic area, despite the bad weather, were “sold out” at lunch and dinner, but with greater pressure at lunch time. In less central restaurants, demand was also felt and cod was king in the majority of adherents. In some establishments there was a huge increase in “Bacalhau à Bragança”, a dish that everyone had on the menu, compared to last year. “We found that “Bacalhau à Bragança” grew at the expense of other types of cod”, said the person responsible for a restaurant in the city center. “I have this cod all year round and it has a huge output”, said another of the participants, with a restaurant in a peripheral area, who continues to applaud the initiative and guarantee participation in future editions. But there are cases in which the search for “Bacalhau à Bragança” was not as successful: “I don’t know what happened, the previous year this dish had more sales”, said one of the participants, adding that this fact does not take away any merit from the event. itself, “and of course people knew about Bacalhau Gastronomic Week”.
The numbers differ from case to case, not everyone is unanimous regarding the success of the dish called “Bacalhau à Bragança”, but everyone agrees that a week dedicated to this product makes perfect sense. “It’s true that the Spanish already come naturally, but we believe that this gastronomic event is another reason to come”, claims one of the participating businessmen, with a restaurant in the city center.
It is known that during Semana Santa Bragança there is a huge influx of visitors and tourists from neighboring Spain, who are known as great cod lovers.
All restaurants have several cod dishes on their menus, the idea of launching “Bacalhau à Bragança”, recreating a common recipe, has to do with the search for a differentiating reference, closely linked to the identity of the territory itself.
Cod was transformed from a simple food into a symbol of Portuguese identity, from a food socially connoted with situations of abstinence and even suitable for the poor, into an expensive and prestigious food in the gastronomic field. What can be observed is that this fish plays a notable role in the lives and culture of the Portuguese, who recognize cod as something that takes them back to their origins, to their homeland, forming part of the collective memory of a people.
