Penacova overcomes the lack of lamprey and brings together other river dishes in one event
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At the beginning of March, Penacova Council is organising a new gastronomic event, dedicated to dishes associated with riverside traditions, due to the lack of lamprey, which traditionally motivated a festival at this time of year.
“Penacova à Mesa” will take place from March 1st to 9th and seeks to celebrate the various dishes linked to the riverside traditions of that municipality in the interior of the Coimbra district, such as river fish, shad, but also lamprey, the Mayor, Álvaro Coimbra, told Lusa today.
The event “is a way of marking on the calendar a gastronomic event that has existed for many years, normally dedicated only to lamprey, but adapted to the current circumstances”, said the mayor, recalling the lack of that fish in Portuguese rivers, particularly in the Mondego, where its fishing and preparation is traditional.
“We have adapted to the new times, with an event with a different format and expanded to include other delicacies related to the river, such as shad and river fish”, he stated.
For Álvaro Coimbra, the continuation of the lamprey festival, which normally took place between February and March, implied “abundance and reduced prices”, but the reality is different.
“There are restaurants that serve lamprey, but at very high prices and by reservation only, which makes it difficult to organize a festival,” he explained, stressing that the priority of this municipality in the district of Coimbra is the preservation and recovery of that species.
According to Álvaro Coimbra, there are several restaurants in the municipality that already offer other river dishes on their menu, and the event was created in dialogue with local restaurants.
“It was necessary to occupy this space at this time with another event, also related to traditions and local gastronomy, which was done with the agreement of most of the restaurants,” he said.
In addition to lamprey rice with turnip greens, there will be other options such as fried river fish or fish in escabeche sauce or fried shad, in an event that also aims to showcase the region's traditional sweets, such as pastéis de Lorvão or nevadas.
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