It is a fish that is abundant in Portuguese waters, has excellent nutritional characteristics and is sold at a very affordable price. The «Cavala Algarvia» project, by the Center for Marine Sciences (CCMar), associated with the University of Algarve, now wants to show that this species can also be used to make a wide variety of dishes, some of them gourmet.
Those responsible for this project to promote mackerel fished off the Algarve will return to the task this weekend, with two show cooking sessions, in Faro and Vilamoura. This Friday, at 19 pm, chef José Domingos will be at the 1st Mediterranean Snack Festival, which is taking place at Jardim da Alameda, in Faro.
On Sunday, the chef invited to promote the initiatives of «Cavala Algarvia» heads to Vilamoura, for a demonstration scheduled for 18:30. The recipes that are made live will be, later, published on the project's Facebook page, similarly to what happened in other similar actions promoted before.
These are moments of contact with the general public, which turn out to be the most visible facet of this project. This new wave of cooking demonstrations is part of a second phase of the CCMar initiative, which aims to promote the promotion of mackerel throughout the Algarve region, as, at first, the Cavala Algarvia to the Barlavento algarvio.
«This is an extension of the project from Barlavento to Sotavento, because doing it only there would not make sense. Many people asked us to replicate this project in the easternmost part of the region, and with the Sotavento Coastal Action Group, it was possible», explained Jorge Gonçalves, coordinator of «Cavala Algarvia».
The person responsible for this project at CCMar and Nicolas Blanc, other researchers linked to the project, were in conversation with the Sul Informação and to Rádio Universitária do Algarve RUA FM, to talk about Cavala Algarvia and make known the next activities they will promote.
“This is already the most important species at the national level. Since 2012, mackerel is the most caught species in Portugal, instead of being sardines. And this gives it an obvious value. It is also a very affordable fish. In addition, and already following the first phase of this project, it was possible to confirm that the Algarve mackerel, specifically, is one of the richest species in fatty acids, along with sardines and salmon», he revealed.
In other words, mackerel plays a role in the most diverse areas, and can even make a strong contribution to the economy, but it is still a “very little used” resource. To change this reality, it is necessary to “explode” in another area that is also important: its acceptance by the Portuguese as a regular presence in their diet and a greater commitment by restaurants to this resource.
The many show cooking that the Cavala Algarvia project has been promoting over the past two years serve precisely to demonstrate that there are many ways of making mackerel, capable of surprising both those who have never tasted this fish and those who are not fond of it. flavor.
«People, above all, do not know. As a rule, mackerel was cooked with onions and oregano, which will be the oldest dish. There are a lot of people who reject him, including me (laughs). And then there's the grilled mackerel, which some people like and some don't. What we intend to show is that there is much more than this», according to Jorge Gonçalves.
“This fish can be much tastier than many people think and it is this knowledge that we want to pass on to people.
This campaign also extends to restaurants and their chefs, “because they give the product another credibility”. These professionals “can do wonders, but they also manage to demonstrate that, in a simple way, you can make a good fish dish”.
In this case, the highlight of the dissemination of this species takes place in the Algarve Cavala Week, which was already promoted in 2014 in the area between Albufeira and Aljezur, and will be repeated between the 17th and 25th of October, between Loulé and Vila Real de Saint Anthony.
“We are now starting the phase of contacting the restaurants. We try to attract as many establishments as possible to integrate one or two original mackerel recipes into their menu for a week», according to Nicolas Blanc, who is more connected to this aspect of the project.
It was here that the elements linked to the project managed to have a better perception of the effect that the campaign they are promoting is having, since “it is not possible to have data on whether sales in restaurants have increased”.
«There were restaurants that felt overtaken by the strong demand. In other words, they bought a certain amount of mackerel, even more than they usually bought, and ran out of it at lunch on the first day. As it was Saturday, they couldn't get more for dinner. In other words, there was the desire of many people to experiment», he illustrated.
Until the 16th of November, Dia do Mar, when the University of the Algarve hosts a culinary demonstration, there will be other shows at the Municipal Market of VRSA, on the 26th of September, and at the Municipal Market of Faro, on October 3rd.
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