Culture of Póvoa de Varzim
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The Culture of Póvoa de Varzim is the result of what is found in the Minho Region influenced by the local fishery habits, protected and shaped by the isolation of the town, different peoples and local factors over the course of generations.
The docudrama film Ala-Arriba! by José Leitão de Barros, popularized this unique Portuguese fishing community within the country during the 1940s, and today it represents an important documentary of the city's history. The expression Ala-Arriba means "(upwards) strength" and it represents the co-operation between the inhabitants and is also the motto of Póvoa de Varzim.
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[edit] Traditions
In Póvoa's tradition (that persists to the present day), the heir of the family is the youngest son (as in old Brittany and Denmark)[1]. The younger son is the heir because it was expected that he would take care of his parents when they became old. Also, unlike the rest of the nation, it is the woman who governs and leads the family – this matriarchy is derived from the fact that the man was usually fishing on the sea and probably derives from ancient local habits.
Formerly the population was divided into different "castes": The Lanchões (those who possessed boats that were capable of deep-water fishing, and thus more prosperous), the Sardinheiros (those who possessed small boats and could only catch fish of smaller size along the shore) and the Lavradores (the farmers). As a rule, the three castes remained distinct, and mixed marriages between the different castes were forbidden, mostly because of the isolationism of the fishermen who were headed by a group of patriarchs. With the urban development at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, this caste structure is today only part of the past.
Due to modern national influences some local traditions started to be lost, and the local culture became more similar to the rest of the nation: the traditional casamento poveiro, in which the newly-wed couple was covered by a fisherman's net and watered with vinho verde in order to bring fortune to the marriage, is becoming a forgotten practice. The lancha poveira, which was formerly common around the beaches of Póvoa and was even used in early 20th century in Rio de Janeiro, was gone by the 1950s: today there is just one boat. Christmas dinner was celebrated on the floor, covered with a white blanket (handcrafted in the rural parishes), in the centre a little bench was placed (a basin in Bairro Sul), with its main meal comprising fish and potatoes with a local sauce. The floor is now substituted by a table (that in former times was pulled out of the way) and the most common fish is cod. The meal is served with Vinho Verde and some Port. Many other aspects of the Minho region Christmas tradition are now common throughout the country.
[edit] Writing system
Siglas Poveiras are a form of 'proto-writing system'; these were used as a rudimentary visual communication system, and are a result of Viking settlers that brought the writing system known as bomärken from Scandinavia about one thousand years ago. The siglas are used as a family "Coat of Arms" or signature to sign belongings.
The siglas were also used to remember things such as marriages, trips, or debts. Thus these were widely used chiefly because many residents did not knew how to use the Latin alphabet, thus these “runes” were widely employed. Merchants used it in their books of credit, and these were read and recognized as we today read and recognize names written in Latin alphabet. These are still used, though much less commonly, by some fishing families.
The inhabitants used to write their sigla in the table of Matriz Church when they got married, as a way to register the event, many ancient siglas can still be found, although many more were lost.
The basic marks were a very restricted number of symbols from which most Siglas derive. These included the arpão, the colhorda, the lanchinha, the pique (including the grade, composed of four crossed piques), and many of these symbols were very similar to those found in Northern Europe, and generally had magical-religious connotations when painted on boats.
Children were given the same family mark with additions, the pique. Thus, the older son would have one pique, the next would have two, and so on. The youngest son would not have any pique, inheriting the same symbol as his father.
[edit] Handicrafts
The Camisolas Poveiras are local pullovers made for celebration and decorative purposes, initially used by the fishermen to protect them from the cold. These have fishery motifs and siglas poveiras, drawings related to the Nordic runes. The pullovers have just three colours: white, black and red, with the name embroidered in sigla and more recent examples also carry the name in the Latin alphabet. The pullovers were once a local dress until 1892, when a sea misfortune led the community to stop wearing it. It became popular once again a t the end of the 1970s. Today, there are some efforts to modernize it on one hand and on the other there are endeavours to preserve the long-established practices.
Other typical handicrafts are the Tapetes de Beiriz (Beiriz carpets) of the parish of Beiriz. These are distinctive carpets recognized and demanded nationally and internationally. Tapetes de Beiriz decorate the Dutch Royalty Palace and Portuguese public buildings. There are also other handicrafts: the Póvoa’s rendas de bilros, the Mantas de Terroso (Terroso's Blankets) and miniatures of Poveiros boats.
[edit] Gastronomy
The local gastronomy results from the fusing of the Minho and fishing cookery. The most traditional ingredients of the local cuisine are locally-grown vegetables, such as collard greens, cabbage, turnip broccoli, potato, onion, tomato, and a wide variety of fish. The fish used to create the traditional dishes are divided in two categories, the "poor" fish (sardine, ray, mackerel, whiskered sole, and others) and the "wealthy" fish (such as snook, whiting, and alfonsino).
The most famous local dish is Pescada à Poveira (Poveira Whiting), whose main ingredients are, with the fish that gives the name to the dish, potatoes, eggs and a boiled onion and tomato sauce (molho fervido); this dish can be consumed in the ordinary way or, before introducing the sauce, lightly crushing and mixing the ingredients with the fork and knife. This dish also often includes collard greens or turnip broccoli which are not crushed. Other fishery dishes include the Arroz de Sardinha (sardine rice), Caldeirada de Peixe (fish caldeirada), Lulas Recheadas à Poveiro (Poveiro stuffed squids), Arroz de Marisco (seafood rice) and Lagosta Suada (steamed lobster). Mussels, limpets, cockles and periwinkles are cooked in the shell and served as a snack. Iscas, pataniscas and bolinhos de Bacalhau are boiled cod snacks and also popular.
The typical soups are broths (Caldos), one of which is Caldo de Castanhas Piladas (pounded chestnut broth); the nationwide Caldo Verde (green broth) is served on special occasions, such as in Saint Peter's Day.
Other dishes include Feijoada Poveira, made with white beans, chouriça and other meats and served with dry rice (arroz seco); and Francesinha Poveira made in long bread that first appeared in 1962 as fast food for holidaymakers.
Local sweets are known as barquinhos (cockle-boats), sardinhas (sardines) and beijinhos (little kisses).
