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In Portugal, Taking a Dive Into Sardines

In Portugal, Taking a Dive Into Sardines

All vacation is in some way an observation of other people working while you do not. A stay at a hotel bears witness to maids and hosts; dinner sees chefs, busboys and waiters; an excursion requires a tour guide, a driver, a boat mechanic if you’re lucky. But there’s a peculiarity in going to a working factory to stand on a raised platform watching locals do hard, old-fashioned work, while you escape your own job.

Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city is the capital of one of the country’s major industries, fish canning. Canned sardines are having a moment in the food world. With exquisitely decorated tins, perceived if questionable sustainability and the decadence of being drenched in oil, they’ve earned a devoted following among youngish people who love them with their whole heart. At Conservas Pinhais et Cia in Matosinhos, a fish-canning factory just a few miles from the center of Porto, visitors are invited to see that their new favorite treat is, in fact, a very old operation.

Founded in 1920 by two brothers and two outside partners, Pinhais is considered one of the best tinned-fish purveyors in the saturated Portuguese market. The company’s factory is one of the few that survived a great shift in sardine production to West Africa, where over half of all sardines are now canned. The sardines are favored among diners in the fish-centric city, and are a favorite across Europe, though U.S. customers might be more familiar with the company’s international label, Nuri, which is bright yellow and available at specialty stores and fine groceries. The fish are known for their high quality and perfect seasoning — and now, on a tour of the working factory, sardine fans can see exactly how it’s done.

The work force is almost all female, a tradition set by the fact that, historically, men went to sea while women stayed behind and dealt with the catch. It is not uncommon for generations of women to work in the factory, with mothers, daughters and aunts finding steady jobs canning. ​​Indeed, the tour of the sardine factory begins with a video of a Portuguese daughter, waiting for her father to make it through a storm. (He does.)

“That film is dedicated to all the families of our fisherman, for the stress they endure,” said the guide Olga Santos, at the start of a recent tour. Thus begins the entry to the wonderful, reverent world of canned sardines.

The 90-minute tour, which Pinhais introduced in November 2021, starts in an office…

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